A mental capacity assessment looks at whether a person can make one specific decision at one specific time. It does not judge them as a whole, and it starts from the assumption that they can decide for themselves. Most families who contact me are somewhere in the middle of a worry. Mum is repeating herself, … Read more
Most deputies and attorneys do a sound job for someone they love. Questions tend to arrive later, when a bank, a sibling or the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) asks about a decision made months or years ago and all you’ve got to go on is memory. I’ve looked at parts of this before. What … Read more
Asking for a capacity assessment can feel like turning a quiet worry into a big thing. Plenty of families hold back for fear of upsetting a parent or starting a row with a sibling. Once you’ve decided to go ahead, the next worry is who should actually do it. The short answer Choose someone who … Read more
Immigration cases rest on evidence, and the evidence about someone’s family life, health and daily circumstances rarely comes from the Home Office. An independent social work report can be extremely helpful. In my experience, solicitors and families both want to know exactly what they will receive before they commission one. What a social work immigration … Read more
If you’re paying for care privately, you might assume someone is keeping an eye on whether it’s still the right care. Often, no one is. Once a person moves onto self-funded care, the regular oversight that comes with local authority funded placements largely falls away, and the responsibility for spotting when something isn’t right shifts … Read more
If an LPA is found to have been signed without proper capacity, the Court of Protection can declare it void and the attorney’s authority ends. Concerns usually surface after registration, raised by a bank, care provider, or family member, and can lead to an OPG investigation before any final decision is made. Where the LPA … Read more
Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, no single person’s view automatically counts for more, not the family’s, not the professionals’, not even the person’s own past wishes on their own. A decision-maker has to weigh all the available evidence together and explain how they reached their conclusion. In practice, disagreements are usually resolved by whichever … Read more
You’ve raised a safeguarding concern about someone you love. Maybe it was a phone call to the council, maybe it was a conversation with a district nurse that turned into something more formal. Now you are waiting, and nobody has quite explained what happens next. A section 42 enquiry is the process a local authority … Read more
A professional deputy appointed by the Court of Protection is expected to act within four standards set by the Office of the Public Guardian: making best interests decisions properly, engaging meaningfully with the person they represent (P), managing finances responsibly, and safeguarding health and welfare. Each standard needs to be evidenced, not assumed. Independent social … Read more
No. A dementia diagnosis on its own never proves someone lacks capacity, and the law is explicit about this. Capacity is assessed decision by decision, not diagnosis by diagnosis, and a person can have dementia while still having full capacity to make many of their own choices. The same goes for decisions others see as … Read more
Get in touch with Ashley at AJH Social Work today to schedule your initial consultation.
