"May"

miss no stars

Looking through nursing home stuff and came across a list of people who may be appointed as a care representative for a person with diminished responsibility. Thankfully doesn't apply in this case because we've already sorted out enduring power of attorney but the way they've phrased a list in the information document struck me as odd to the point of being bizarre:

Persons who can apply for Appointment as a Care Representative
The following persons, in order of priority, may apply to be appointed as a
Care Representative once they are 18 years of age or over:
1. Your spouse/partner,
2. Your parent,
3. Your child,
4. Your brother or sister (whether of the whole or half blood),
5. Your niece or nephew,
6. Your grandchild,
7. Your grandparent,
8. Your aunt or uncle,
9. A person who appears to the court to have a good and sufficient
interest in your welfare, other than -
n the owner of a nursing home in which you reside or are likely to
reside, or
n a medical practitioner who examined you and prepared a report
for the Court in relation to your capacity

Now, the person I was looking at all of this about is my grandmother. The order of the list seems really strange to me. Most grandchildren would be closer to their grandparent than their niece or nephew would be. Like, if anything happened to my mum, my nan's siblings who she sees once a year at best, or a niece or nephew she sees even less often is higher up the list than I am?

So it made me wonder about that "may". What is the meaning of "may" in this context when there's an order of priority.

Also, do these orders of priority actually mean that if her estranged brother applied and I applied, he would get priority over me?

I'm not actually asking for legal advice here as I presume that having the enduring power of attorney means that I can already make decisions for her and don't need to be appointed as a care representative, but it just struck me as a very strange way of prioritizing things.

conorh91

"May" simply reflects the free choice of a relative to apply or not to apply to be a person's care representative.

Sometimes a person will not desire to be appointed as care representative, whereupon they can give their consent for someone of lower priority to be appointed, and the word "may", inter alia, therefore reflects this delegation of priority to a new applicant who "may" apply.

Or, a second person "may" apply to be a care representative even where there is already a care representative appointed. Or two relatives may apply to be jointly appointed as care representatives at the same time. "May reflects all of this.

It also reflects the fact that someone "may" apply to be appointed as a care representative even where there is a person in existence with greater priority but that person is estranged, for example.

Also, do these orders of priority actually mean that if her estranged brother applied and I applied, he would get priority over me?

He might not be appointed as care representative at all, but if there were to be a care representative appointed, yes, he would have priority if he applied, although a further relative could still make an application to join him as care representative.

I presume that having the enduring power of attorney means that I can already make decisions for her and don't need to be appointed as a care representative

Yes, s.21 of the Nursing Home Support Scheme Act 2009 says a person who has already appointed an attorney under an enduring power of attorney shall not have a care representative appointed, unless the attorney is an unfit person.