Stage 02 · Early home care

The diagnosis has arrived. Three protections can only be put in place now.

Each of them requires your parent’s mental capacity to sign. The window closes faster than most adult children realise. Most families miss this. This is the page that makes sure you do not.

Download the checklist PDF · 2 pages · no signup, no email

Lasting power of attorney can only be signed while your parent still has the capacity to sign it. That window closes permanently the day it does. The families who come through this least damaged are the ones who acted before it was too late.

DCC legal guidance · April 2026

What’s inside

Three protections. One window. No way to do them later.

Each of these requires your parent’s mental capacity at the moment of signing. None of them can be put in place after capacity is lost. None of them is optional. All three are on the page.

01
Lasting Power of Attorney — property & financial affairs.
The legal authority to manage bank accounts, bills, and property on your parent’s behalf. Apply online via gov.uk, or instruct an elder-law solicitor. Submit to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration. Five specific items on the page.
The window
Closes permanently the day capacity is lost.
02
Lasting Power of Attorney — health & welfare.
The authority to make medical and care decisions when your parent no longer can. Apply at the same time as the financial LPA. Have the conversation about future wishes — preferred place of care, end-of-life preferences — while they can still answer it. Four specific items.
The window
Same window. Most families forget the second LPA.
03
Care needs assessment — and your own carer’s assessment.
Both are legal entitlements under the Care Act 2014. Contact your local authority Adult Social Services. Request both at the same time, in writing. Bring dated examples of what your parent can no longer do reliably. Four specific items.
Your right
Yours by law — regardless of how well you are coping.

Why now matters

Most families miss one. Then they are in court for two years.

Without a registered LPA, the alternative is a Court of Protection deputyship application — on average twelve to eighteen months, several thousand pounds in fees, and a stranger making the decisions in the meantime. The page in your hand is the difference.

Also on the page

Two more sections that protect the everyday.

The legal floor is three. The page also covers two practical sections that protect day-to-day life while you put the LPAs in place.

Section 04

Financial safety.

Vulnerability to scams begins early in dementia — before visible memory problems. Five specific actions, including:

+ Bank alerts for large withdrawals and unusual spending.
+ Direct debits for every regular bill — fewer judgement calls.
+ The number 159 written somewhere visible. It connects to UK banks via Stop Scams UK.
+ A door chain, a video doorbell, a password with utility companies.

Section 05

Medication management.

Some common medications worsen dementia symptoms. Three actions, with one specific phrase to use at the GP:

+ Request a medication review — ask about anticholinergic burden by name.
+ Ask the pharmacy for a Monitored Dosage System (blister pack). Rarely offered — ask explicitly.
+ Start a dated medication log: drug, dose, prescriber, side effects.

How to use it

Three steps. Two appointments. One closed window opened in time.

Confirm capacity. Today, not next month.

Ask the GP to confirm your parent has the capacity to sign legal documents. A solicitor can also assess. Capacity now is the door that lets the rest of the page happen.

Apply for both LPAs at the same time.

Property & financial. Health & welfare. Submit them together to the Office of the Public Guardian. Registration takes several weeks. The clock starts the day you send them.

Request the assessments in writing.

Care needs assessment for your parent. Carer’s assessment for you. Both, at the same time, to Adult Social Services. Both are legal rights — you do not have to qualify for them.

Important to be clear

This is a practical reference, not legal or medical advice. LPA law applies to England and Wales; the equivalent in Scotland is welfare and financial power of attorney; in Northern Ireland, enduring power of attorney. For legal matters, consult a solicitor specialising in elder law. For medical decisions, speak to a GP.

The window closes whether you act or not. This page is the difference.

Print the checklist tonight. Book the GP. Phone the solicitor. The three protections, in place, before capacity becomes the question.