Our ageing population has seen the number of people handing over management of their affairs soar in the past year, leading to fears that many vulnerable people could be open to financial abuse.

New figures show that 78,000 powers of attorney were taken out last year, which is a rise of 56 per cent on the previous 12 months.

But experts warn that with the number of people over the age of 65 set to double over the next 50 years, and the number of dementia sufferers expected to rise to 1.3 million by 2025, cases of financial fraud are set to soar too.

It is estimated that around 2,000 powers of attorney are being abused every year and as the numbers taken out are set to soar, experts fear the numbers being abused will also rise.

Recent cases have seen £60,000 stolen from a mother’s bank account by her own son, while a gambling addict was convicted for embezzling £88,000 of his 94-year-old father’s money. 

Former public guardian for Scotland, Sandra McDonald, has estimated, based on what she calls “analogous situations”, that around 80 per cent of powers of attorney are functioning as they should do.

But she fears that a further 18% “may be tempted by opportunity”, while the remaining 2% are “the people we read about who have taken advantage of their authority as attorney”. 

She said: “We all hear about the abuse cases, but we don’t hear about all of those that go so well.”

Ms McDonald said she worried that reports slating powers of attorney as a mechanism for abuse can put people off doing power of attorney because they think, “Oh I’m just granting an abuse right to someone”. 

In fact, she said: “When you look at the abuse figures there is way more abuse goes on with people who are not operating under a power of attorney, who are just what we would call informal support for the person.”

There are currently loopholes in the system, while the ways in which the powers contained in the documents, and the responsibilities contained in the Adults with Incapacity Act (2000), are frequently misunderstood. 

The system in Scotland is considered by many to be better than the one in place in England and Wales as there are more safeguards. 

An assessment of capacity to make decisions has to be conducted at the outset by a lawyer or doctor, the majority of PoAs are drafted by solicitors and the powers are more specific. 

Most of the power of attorney abuse that makes headlines is financial, oftenmany played out in court which illustrates breakdown of family trust. andwhich sometimes involves tens of thousands of pounds. 

Among the more shocking in recent years was the trial of former police officer Andrew Rough, who, with his wife Jean, was found guilty in 2016 of stealing £60,000 from his elderly mother, Gladys. 

The money had enabled him and his wife to fund a lavish lifestyle that included three holidays a year. 

Gladys had handed her bank cards to Rough and given them power of
attorney to look after her affairs. 

But the couple took around £12,000 a year, emptying, along the way, the account set up to which payid for her phone, which was cut off, along with her panic alarm. 

Lesley Carcary, director of the charity Action On Elder Abuse Scotland, said: “We’re finding that in terms of people who abuse their position of trust as power of attorney, there are two main groups. 

“There are the people who are bad and unscrupulous, generally using it as an opportunity to steal from someone. Then there’s the people who are doing it unwittingly. Either they don’t quite understand the powers they’ve been given or think they’ve been doing nothing wrong.”

We have people calling our helpline saying, ‘Oh but it’s my inheritance. My mum would want me to have it.’” 

“Sometimes they think it’s a carte blanche. We also find sometimes that if someone has been dealing with a bank or financial institution for example and they say I’m PoA, people don’t even check. They just think that if someone has said they are power of attorney then they are.”

Many experts express a worry that reports about abuse of power of attorney inevitably might scare people drawing up the documents in the first place. 

Some tell stories of relatives who had refused to grant such powers purely because of reports they had read of abuse.

When someone loses capacity and no power of attorney has been registered, a guardian must be appointed by the court. 2863 of these orders were registered last year.

The Scottish Government last year made proposals to reform the Adults With Incapacity Act (2000). 

Among the suggested changes is the addition of a role called an “official supporter”, who explicitly supports an adult to make decisions. 

Action On Elder Abuse supported this proposal, saying: “We have heard of cases of attorneys misusing/abusing their positions to make decisions which are not in the best interests of the incapable adult. For example, placing the adult in a care home, or refusing support, care or treatment…We therefore support this proposal as a means of clarifying the granter’s wishes.”