25 April 2023 Money Carer
Appointeeship, Deputyship, Carer Cards, Power of Attorney Appointeeship - FAQ's

If the current appointee no longer wishes to act and nominates another person or organisation, or if the individual is unhappy with their appointee, and has the capacity to choose an alternative appointee, they can request this.

The existing appointee would, however, need to agree to relinquish their appointeeship with the DWP, and the new appointee would need to apply by completing a BF56 document and sending it to the DWP.

Before any change of appointeeship, the DWP will need to be assured that the request to change the legal appointee is actually in the best interest of the benefit claimant.

Oftentimes, appointeeship change requests can be simple expressions of unhappiness relating to access to additional money requests by the individual. The appointee, however, may have valid reasons, or wider safeguarding concerns, that form the basis of their decisions around access to funds that could otherwise put the individual at risk.

It is important to acknowledge, that whilst the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and its 5 underpinning principles, allow for the ability of individuals to make ‘unwise decisions’, the Act was not designed to avoid difficult decision-making by practitioners in order to safeguard vulnerable people.

For further information about becoming a DWP appointee, please download our appointee guide for family members.

 

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