This is an application by the Public Guardian for the revocation of two Lasting Powers of Attorney; a Lasting Power of Attorney (‘LPA’) for property and affairs and an LPA for personal welfare.

Sybil is 93. She was born in Barbados on 30 May 1922 and came to live in England in 1960.

She worked for several years at St Leonard’s Hospital, Hackney; then at Whipps Cross Hospital, and finally in Alliston House, a care home in Walthamstow run by the London Borough of Waltham Forest Council.

She lives in a two-bedroom first-floor flat in Walthamstow, London E17 with her granddaughter, Fatima, who was born on 13 September 1977, and Fatima’s husband and three daughters, who are aged 16, 13 and 5.

Sibyl married a man from Trinidad, from whom she had separated before she came to England. He died in 2000. She has three sons:

Karl, who was born on 30 November 1946 and lives in, Beckton, London E6;

Rex, who was born on 18 March 1949, converted to Islam, and changed his name to Mohammed. He lives in Trinidad and is Fatima’s father; and

Ray, who was born on 19 April 1958, is a postman and lives in South Woodford, London E18.

On 15 April 2002 Sybil bought her flat from the Waltham Forest Community-Based Housing Association for £29,000. Her son Ray paid the entire purchase price and she executed a trust deed, in which she acknowledged that Ray was the beneficial owner of the property. In the same deed, Ray granted Sibyl the right to live in the flat for as long as she wishes, provided she pays all the outgoings.

On 23 April 2008 Sybil executed an LPA for property affairs and an LPA for personal welfare, in which she appointed Ray to be her sole attorney.

An application was made to the Office of the Public Guardian (‘OPG’) to register the LPAs. The LPA for property and affairs was registered on 23 September 2008 and the LPA for personal welfare was registered on 26 January 2009.

On 17 July 2008 Sibyl made a will, in which she left her entire estate to Ray and appointed him to be her sole executor. If he predeceases her, then half of her estate will go to her son Mohammed and the other half will go to her grandchildren. The will was drawn up by J. H. Hart & Company, Solicitors, Upton Park, London E6.

In August 2008 Sibyl was diagnosed as having dementia. She is now severely demented, non-communicative and doubly incontinent. She also has osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes, Sjögren’s syndrome (which is an autoimmune disorder) and a history of recurrent urinary tract infections.

There have been several complaints to the OPG about the attorney’s conduct. On each occasion the whistleblower has been Sybil’s eldest son, Karl.

On 9 July 2015 the Public Guardian applied to the court for the following order:

The revocation of the registered LPAs made by Sybil on 23 April 2008 and registered on 23 September 2008 and 26 January 2009.

Should the court decide to remove the attorney, the court is asked to consider appointing London Borough of Waltham Forest Council as deputy to manage the property and financial affairs of Sybil.”

The application was accompanied by a witness statement made on 8 July 2015 by David Richards, an investigations officer with the OPG. In summary:

Concerns were raised (again) on 23 November 2014.

Ray only visits Sybil once a year and he has delegated his functions as attorney to his niece, Fatima.

He hasn’t provided Fatima with a gratuitous care allowance of £300 a week, which he had promised to pay her.

In November 2010 Sybil moved to Trinidad to live with her son Mohammed and his daughter Fatima. It was intended to be a permanent move and Ray was obliged to transfer to Fatima a lump sum of £15,000 from Sybil’s funds in order to satisfy the Trinidadian government that Sybil had adequate funds to support herself.

In the event, Sybil returned to her flat in Walthamstow in 2012 and Fatima and her husband and their three daughters joined her.

A Court of Protection General Visitor saw Sybil on 11 February 2015 and confirmed that she has severe dementia and lacks the capacity to revoke the LPAs.

On 11 September 2015 I made an order requiring:

the OPG to serve the papers on the attorney, Ray, by 25 September;

Ray to respond to the application by 16 October;

Waltham Forest Council to confirm that it was willing to act as deputy by 16 October; and

the matter to be referred back to me on or after 19 October 2015.

On 13 October 2015 Marcus Power of Waltham Forest Council filed an acknowledgment of service, in which he said:

Marcus Power suggested that the court should appoint a panel deputy, instead. The panel consists of approximately seventy professional deputies who have been appointed by the OPG. The court selects a deputy from the panel when no other suitable person is willing or able to act for someone who lacks mental capacity.

On 13 October 2015 Karl filed an acknowledgment of service and a witness statement in which he said:

On 16 October 2015 Fatima made a witness statement in which she said:

On 27 October 2015 I made an order:

reciting the fact that Waltham Forest Council was not prepared to act as Sybil’s deputy and that it had suggested that a panel deputy be appointed instead;

joining Fatima and Karl as parties to the proceedings as the second and third respondents respectively;

requiring an officer of the court to send the Public Guardian copies of the respondents’ acknowledgments of service and witness statements:

requiring the Public Guardian to respond by 20 November;

giving the respondents a final opportunity to file and serve any further evidence or submissions by 4 December; and

listing the matter for hearing on 10 December 2015.

On 17 November 2015 David Richards made a second witness statement, in which he said:

While no evidence has been filed by Ray, on 4 November 2015 he informed the OPG by telephone that he is content with being removed as attorney but would like whoever is appointed as deputy to pursue the issue of the money paid to Fatima, when the donor was living in Trinidad between 2010 and 2012.

In Fatima’s witness statement, she states that she has looked after the donor since 2008 and feels that she is best placed to understand the donor’s needs and requirements. She wishes to be appointed as deputy, although her statement is unclear whether she is seeking to be appointed as health and welfare deputy as well as property and finance deputy.

Fatima requests the court to review Ray’s acquisition of the donor’s property [in Walthamstow] and the donor’s capacity to have made a valid will in July 2008, as she believes the donor was diagnosed with severe dementia one month after the will was made.

In Karl’s statement, he shares the same concerns as Fatima, that the will and the trust deed regarding the property are not valid. He provides emails he sent to the OPG. Amongst other things he claims that the donor’s signatures on the LPAs are false and that it is likely that she already had dementia when she made the LPAs.

The appointment of an independent deputy would be preferable, if the court requires the deputy to further investigate Ray’s concerns regarding the lack of an explanation by Fatima about how the £15,000 paid to her in 2011 was dealt with. However, it does seem quite likely that these funds were spent on the donor while she lived in Trinidad, and there seems to be limited prospects of a further investigation leading to any of these funds being recovered.

While an independent professional deputy would be able to consider the concerns about the will and the purchase of [the property], neither the court nor the deputy has the power to decide whether a will is valid. The deputy could apply to the court for the execution of a statutory will but this would be a costly process and might not be appropriate or necessary as the donor’s estate is very small.

In addition, the purchase under the Right-to-Buy Scheme took place in 2002, which was several years before the donor was diagnosed with dementia. Furthermore, the donor was legally represented at the time and Ray provided all the funds required for the purchase. The court has no power to investigate the purchase or to set it aside and, while a deputy could investigate and bring proceedings in another court, they would be expected to seek legal advice on the prospects of success. Since there are insufficient funds to bear the costs of a panel deputy, unless they were willing to act on a pro bono basis, the prospect of a successful challenge to the purchase of the property seems remote.

In the circumstances the OPG has no objection to Fatima being appointed as deputy to manage her property and financial affairs, as well as her health and welfare, if the court considers it necessary.

The Public Guardian’s legal team instructed Rebecca Stickler, a barrister at No5 Chambers, to represent him at the hearing, and on 9 December 2015 she filed a position statement, which she concluded as follows

has failed to monitor the money transferred to Trinidad or Sybil’s accounts and he has not received bank statements directly;

did not register the LPA with the bank until recently;

failed to demonstrate financial prudence in ensuring that all relevant benefits are obtained on Sybil’s behalf and her expenditure is reduced where possible;

failed to provide the agreed payments for Fatima to care for Sybil; and

delegated his health and welfare responsibilities to Fatima.

Section 22 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 explains the circumstances in which the Court of Protection may revoke an LPA. It refers to the donor of an LPA as ‘P’ and the attorney appointed by the donor as ‘the donee’.

Section 22(3)(b) states that:

has behaved, or is behaving, in a way that contravenes his authority or is not in P’s best interests, or

proposes to behave in a way that would contravene his authority or would not be in P’s best interests.”

Subsection (4) provides that:

…

if P lacks capacity to do so, revoke the instrument or the lasting power of attorney.”

I summarised the law relating to the appointment of a deputy for property and affairs recently in Re RP [2016] EWCOP 1, which was published on the BAILII website on 5 January 2016, and I confirm what I said at paragraphs 29 to 35 of that judgment.

Suffice it to say that the Court of Protection has a discretion as to whom it appoints as a deputy and has traditionally preferred to appoint a relative or friend (as long as it is satisfied that it is in P’s best interests to do so), rather than a complete stranger, out of respect for their relationship. There are also more practical reasons for choosing a family member.

A relative will usually be familiar with P’s affairs, and aware of their wishes and feelings. Someone with a close personal knowledge of P is also likely to be in a better position to meet the obligation of a deputy to consult with P, and to permit and encourage them to participate, or to improve their ability to participate, as fully as possible in any act or decision affecting them.

I am satisfied that Sybil lacks the capacity to revoke her LPAs, and that her attorney, Ray, has behaved in a way that contravenes his authority or is not in her best interests.

As Rebecca Stickler noted in her position statement, Ray:

failed to monitor the money transferred to Trinidad;

failed to monitor Sybil’s accounts generally;

did not receive and scrutinise her bank statements;

didn’t even register the LPA for property and affairs with her bank until very recently;

failed to demonstrate financial prudence in ensuring that all relevant benefits were obtained on Sybil’s behalf (for example, she has been paying Council Tax at a rate of £129 a month, in circumstances in which she may be entitled to an exemption); and

failed to provide the agreed allowance for Fatima to care for Sybil.

Because Sybil’s assets are of minimal value, it would not be in her best interests to appoint a professional deputy, who would expect to be remunerated for his or her services. Even Waltham Forest Council would have been entitled to charge an annual management fee not exceeding 3% of her assets.

I propose to appoint Fatima to act as Sybil’s deputy for property and affairs. She has been looking after Sybil since 2008, and has sacrificed a lot for very little by way of reward.

I agree with David Richards that there is no need for any further investigation into how she disposed of the £15,000 that was paid to her when she was looking after Sybil in Trinidad. I would have thought it was obvious that this sum was spent on care and general living expenses over a period of two years. There are certainly no reasonable grounds for believing that Fatima may have financially abused her grandmother.

I am aware that there is friction in the family, but essentially this relates to the contents of Sybil’s will and Ray’s purchase of Sybil’s flat under the right-to-buy scheme. I have lost count of the number of cases I have dealt with, in which the purchase of social housing has rent a family asunder, but in this case the animosity between Karl and Fatima on the one hand, and Ray on the other hand, is unlikely to have any adverse impact on the management of Sybil’s financial affairs.

There is usually no need to appoint a deputy for personal welfare because of the provisions of section 5 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which were described by Professor Peter Bartlett, the author of Blackstone’s Guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, as “the least formalistic and most innovative of the legal devices in the Mental Capacity Act.”

The gist of these provisions is that people who provide care for someone who lacks capacity are protected from liability for so doing, provided they act in the best interests of the person concerned and provided they don’t act negligently.

In addition, section 16(4) of the Act provides that when deciding whether it is in a person’s best interests to appoint a deputy, “the court must have regard to the principles that:

a decision of the court is to be preferred to the appointment of a deputy, and

the powers conferred on a deputy should be as limited in scope and duration as is reasonably practicable in the circumstances.”

Generally speaking, it is impracticable to apply section 16(4) in property and affairs cases, but in personal welfare cases, the court can and does apply section 16(4) quite rigidly.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice says, at paragraph 8.38, that:

important and necessary actions cannot be carried out without the court’s authority, or

there is no other way of settling the matter in the best interests of the person who lacks capacity to make particular welfare decisions.”

Paragraph 8.39 of the Code goes on to give the following examples of instances in which the appointment of a personal welfare deputy might be appropriate:

Someone needs to make a series of linked decisions over time and it would not be beneficial or appropriate to require all of those decisions to be made by the court. For example, someone (such as a family carer) who is close to a person with profound and multiple learning disabilities might apply to be appointed as a deputy with authority to make such decisions.

The most appropriate way to act in the person’s best interests is to have a deputy, who will consult relevant people but have the final authority to make decisions.

There is a history of family disputes that could have a detrimental effect on the person’s future care unless a deputy is appointed to make necessary decisions.

The person who lacks capacity is felt to be at risk of serious harm if left in the care of family members. In these rare cases, welfare decisions may need to be made by someone independent of the family, such as a local authority officer. There may even be a need for an additional court order prohibiting those family members from having contact with the person.

In G v E and Manchester City Council and F [2010] EHWC 2512 (COP) (Fam); [2010] COPLR Con Vol 470, Mr Justice Jonathan Baker considered in great detail whether it was necessary to appoint a personal welfare deputy, and said at paragraphs [56] and [57] that:

And at paragraph [61] Mr Justice Baker went on to comment that:

I propose to revoke the LPA for personal welfare because Ray has been thoroughly neglectful. He hardly ever visits his mother - not even on the occasions when she has been admitted to hospital - and he has delegated his personal welfare decision-making functions to Fatima. Thereby he has behaved in a way that contravenes his authority and is not in Sybil’s best interests.

I can see no obvious need for Fatima to be appointed as a personal welfare deputy. Routine decisions concerning Sybil’s day-to-day care can be made by Fatima as her carer. Decisions about her medical treatment should be made by the health care professionals, who will no doubt consult Fatima and Sybil’s three sons. If there is any disagreement, an application can be made to the Court of Protection. Accordingly, notwithstanding the revocation of the LPA for personal welfare, I do not propose to appoint a personal welfare deputy to replace the attorney.