Power of attorney .

It's a gesture of trust, yet choosing the right person is crucial. It's akin to handing them the keys to your life's decisions.

Considering this thread was from over four years ago, I think the issue may have been resolved in one way or another.

I'm sorry to hear about the diagnosis, it can bring a lot of questions. Regarding the Youth Offending Team, they usually work with young people who've come into contact with the criminal justice system. It might be beneficial to talk to them to understand how they can support your son considering his diagnosis.
Regarding legal guardianship after 18, it might be essential to explore legal options like guardianship or power of attorney. These could allow you to continue making decisions on behalf of your son. Speaking with a lawyer specializing in disability law could provide guidance on what's needed and how to proceed.
For insights into healthcare compliance and legalities regarding disabilities, [link removed by moderator] might offer information relevant to ensuring proper care and rights for your son.

This thread is four years old! 

As I understand it, in order to make a Lasting Power of Attorney, the donor must have mental capacity at the time of signing, and be of legal age.  The Mental Capacity Act 2005 assumes capacity until proven otherwise, and is situation specific.  Thus if you have a LPoA for finance, your son may still have the capacity for day-to-day financial affairs, paying bills etc., but not for making complicated investment decisions. You probably need to consult a lawyer. An LPoA needs to be recorded with the Court of Protection.

Civil mental capacity is different to the defences available in criminal law, which is a specialised area of work in which I am not qualified to give an opinion - again, I suggest you contact a criminal lawyer with experience in arguing "diminished responsibility " or similar cases.

Interestingly I am just going through the power of attorney process in relation to my elderly parents; both the financial one and the medical and care one.  In this case they are giving my son and I a power of attorney as an insurance against the day when they are nolonger able to make their own decisions or are able to make them, but need me physically carry out the executive for them (say, go to the bank and pay a bill or get them some cash).

Your son could effectively give you power of attorney, but he would have to have capacity now to give it, and it sounds as though he may not.  In any case, the powers would not kick in until he had lost capacity or asked you to exercise it.  You could not act so long as he had capacity, or override his decisions no matter how unwise they are if he has capacity.  Neither would these powers enable you to be involved with his dealings with the police.

I would, however, have a chat to a solicitor as I gather that powers of attorney can be also awarded by the court.  The court would have to be satisfied that he did not have capacity, not that he merely makes unwise decisions.

The youth offending team should be working with him to help him stay out of trouble.  I very much hope that they will understand his autistim and are able to educate him as to who to stay away from because they are trying to exploit him and where the behavioural boundaries are.  

Beyond that, if he does not have capacity, the other responders are correct.  (I used to work for the police). The police should not interview him etc without an appropriate adult present.  That appropriate adult does not however necessarily mean you.  They could for instance ask a social worker.  Once 18 you would not have an automatic right to be informed or be involved.

Much will depend here on what his true level of capacity is and you may need further assessment to establish that.  I'd strongly advise a chat with a solicitor.  

Thanks for sharing the information here in this thread! my son has also been diagnosed, and I was looking for more information about managing finances and a power of attorney.

Good call - I’m sorry if it scared you, I’m just trying to be as open and honest as I can about the situation. 

Thank you . Really interesting and hugely terrifying. 
we monitor him as much as humanly possible but with all teenagers, where their is a will ! 
we now have a social worker in our corner and lockdown has been a God send ! 
yes I will go to bank once I have the official paperwork. I will also ask for legal advice.

Contrary to what the police say, whilst the courts can try a youth as an adult the police don’t have that jurisdiction - there are obligations they must follow (PACE guidelines) and if they don’t they can render an entire case null and void through not following due process as a conviction would be deemed unsafe and thrown out of court. This includes ensuring that an appropriate adult (usually a family member) is appointed and present at all key parts of a child’s time in custody - the role of the appropriate adult is to ensure that the person in custody understands what is happening and understands their rights etc and to raise concerns if they feel a person is being manipulated by the authorities. Critically and this is really relevant if anything happens with your son after he turns 18, any person who exhibits a mental illness or limited capacity to understand what is going on must also be appointed an appropriate adult, and given your sons diagnosis if they failed to do this you’d have a strong case to get any charges thrown out of court. This is all part of the PACE guidelines. So saying he will be dealt with as an adult is wrong and if it happened in the last 12 months I strongly suggest you submit a complaint - in part to have the officer held to account but also to evidence the sort of threats they have made to your son.  

Anyone under 18 must be dealt with by support agencies as a youth as until they are 18 they are legally defined as a child. Beyond 18 to 21 they are still dealt with as young offenders in most instances rather than being subject to adult prison. However this said, whether a court chooses to try someone as a youth or adult in this window is subjective. Sadly autism isn’t really considered much in terms of mitigation unless a report produced for court by a professional which essentially states that he lacked the mental comprehension to understand his actions, however the only charge with which courts have to legally consider diminished responsibility is murder, for all other offences it is very much optional although a judge should give it some weight - it’s an absolute travesty that courts can say and do this and it means a disproportionate number of people with autism can end up behind bars due to either being manipulated by others through their condition or through criminality linked to how they manage their condition. I think it’s important therefore that he engages with professionals and collectively you find a way to turn this around so the young offenders team could be helpful but I think you need him also to understand the harsh realities of what could happen if he gets I. With the wrong crowd again. 

As for the power of attorney - it may be worth contacting the bank he is with and asking a generic question about what they need in order to give you that, or if indeed they can. 

Brilliant thanks 

Thank you for reply. My son has been used by local **** (can’t think of suitable term !) kids to shop lift and hold onto a knife and drugs in order to make friends and not understanding the position he was in and unable to communicate through fear  of all they promised to do to him if he told.

He also had a moment with a young lady that became uncomfortable as he did not understand go away, he followed her more to find out why ! 

the police said next time regardless of ASD he will be treated as an adult, which scares me to death as I guess he’s mentally around 8 . Hence youth offending team. 

Dear NAS67112,

There's links on the NAS website page about managing money under 'Your Rights' to relevant information on the Citizens Advice website.

You might also like to contact the NAS Transition Support Service.  

I hope that helps.

regards,

Kerri-Mod

One would assume that youth offending teams relate to criminality of some sort - but that’s not a medical referral so I am a little perplexed on that one unless I’m totally misunderstanding this.

As for power of attorney, it’s a tricky one as at very least you’d need one or more letters from professionals recommending this on the basis that your child lacks the capacity to safely make decisions for themselves on money etc. Without that I doubt banks would agree because there needs to be some burden of proof to satisfy them. I would however say to be careful that you don’t stifle too much of their independence as at some stage, without being morbid, you won’t be around to manage money etc - so I wouldn’t recommend this as a long term solution.