{"id":7919,"date":"2026-10-09T22:57:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T22:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visiting-angels.co.uk\/cheshire-east\/?p=7919"},"modified":"2026-10-09T23:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T23:11:44","slug":"power-of-attorney-home-care-solicitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visiting-angels.co.uk\/cheshire-east\/power-of-attorney-home-care-solicitors\/","title":{"rendered":"Home care and power of attorney: a solicitor\u2019s guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Quick summary<\/b><\/h3>

A health and welfare attorney can decide where the donor lives and what care they receive, once the donor lacks capacity for that decision. What the attorney cannot do is require the local authority to fund a particular package. This note sets out where the two systems meet, and where clients most often come unstuck.<\/span><\/p>

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Who this is for<\/b><\/h3>

Private client solicitors, will writers, financial advisers doing care fee planning, and deputies. It is written for professionals rather than families, and it assumes familiarity with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.<\/span><\/p>

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Which decisions sit with which instrument<\/b><\/h3>

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Decision<\/b><\/p><\/th>

Property and financial affairs LPA<\/b><\/p><\/th>

Health and welfare LPA<\/b><\/p><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>

Paying care fees, managing income and capital<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Yes<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Selling or letting the property to fund care<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Yes<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Where the donor lives<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Yes, once the donor lacks capacity<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Whether care is provided at home or in a care home<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Yes<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Which provider delivers care, and the content of the care plan<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Yes<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Consent to or refusal of treatment<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Yes, if the instrument so provides<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr>

Life-sustaining treatment<\/span><\/p><\/td>

No<\/span><\/p><\/td>

Only if the relevant section is completed<\/span><\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>

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The practical consequence is familiar: a client with only a property and financial affairs LPA can pay for care but cannot decide what it should be. In a contested discharge, that distinction becomes the whole issue.<\/span><\/p>

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Where the local authority’s assessment impacts things<\/b><\/h3>

An attorney’s authority determines <\/span>what the donor does<\/b>, subject to best interests and least restriction. It does not determine <\/span>what the council pays for<\/b>. Where a package is publicly funded, the local authority assesses eligible needs under the Care Act 2014 and sets a personal budget sufficient to meet them. An attorney can express preferences, and cannot require a more expensive service than the assessment supports.<\/span><\/p>

Two routes usually resolve this in practice: a direct payment, which allows the attorney to commission a provider of choice and top up privately, or a self-funded arrangement alongside a council contribution. Our note on <\/span>the care needs assessment<\/span><\/a> sets out the process from the family’s side.<\/span><\/p>

Where the client is self-funding, the attorney’s discretion is correspondingly wider, constrained by best interests and by what the estate can sustain.<\/span><\/p>

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The capital position, which drives most care fee planning<\/b><\/h3>

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