This is, I think, a particularly taxing leg of the journey and one that I have struggled to enjoy having found it so relentlessly demanding. Stretching on every level.
I have learnt much. All of it along the way.
Never did I envisage a task so massive. Or complex. Or convoluted.
My advice to anyone is simple: Think about things in advance. But do not assume that prior planning will save you hassle as, when it comes down to it, there is still the same amount of red tape to navigate your way through.
The first step of the process is arduous in that it requires a solicitor to confirm that the 'donor' still has capacity to make the decision authorising someone to act on their behalf if, or when this should change.
The Office of the Public Guardian has a significant backlog. There is no hurrying the powers that are. They simply cannot be rushed. So get your act together ahead of time and be prepared for a maddeningly long wait which only then allows you to get on with the real business - registering the document with the various companies and institutions with whom you may need to interact on a donor's behalf.
Each organisation has its own requirements and each organisation does things in its own peculiar little way. Patience and tolerance are assets. And you should boast both. In abundance...
What I have found most difficult is the almost total absence of sensitivity I have encountered whilst trying to manoeuvre myself through the seemingly endless swathes of paperwork.
Why does everything have to be so impossibly tedious, long and drawn out? Time is now much too precious to be spent making endless appointments in branch, and countless phone calls that never seem to get anywhere. As if it weren't difficult enough coming to terms with the factors necessitating activation of the process in the first place, this particularly unenviable role has brought me to my knees comprising an undeniable reminder of my powerlessness.
No comments:
Post a Comment