Power of Attorney

crazyH

I have 3 children…..how does that work ?

You can have three attorneys to be on your LPA’s, I think you can have as many as you like. There is also the opportunity to have back up attorneys if the ones you name pre decease you or cannot take on the role.

I have three children but only named the two who live in this country to make the process simpler but I did keep my son who lives in the US informed of what I was doing. My mum did the same, naming the three of us who live in the U.K. and not my sister who lives elsewhere.

I put my OH and all 4 of my children down on the form - they do not have to all do it together, they can nominate the one who is most available/ willing to do it at the time. That way I’m covering all my bases . You have to get all their signatures/agreement, but that wasn’t a problem.

Cabbie 21
“ We have the old Enduring Power of Attorney. I don’t know if it would be worth redoing them under the current LPA. Has anyone done this?”

I think it would be a good idea. I’ve validated my Mum’s EPA so can manage the rental of her home and her finances now that she is in a care home. The health and welfare side of her affairs could potentially be more problematic as EPA doesn’t cover that. Mum made a living will at the same time as her EPA so her decisions about eg treatment in the event of life threatening illness are clear. Her care home and GP surgery have kept me informed about Mum’s health and treatment as “ good practice” but on balance I think LPAs for finance and health and welfare would make everything formal.

I also filled in the old enduring power of attorney and gave it to one of my daughters years ago. When OH and are were updating our wills, I mentioned it to the solicitor who did not really comment but then tried to sell his services (at quite a cost) to my OH to do a EPA. I took it that my old one is adequate as he didn't try to sell me a new one.

The old power of attorney that my mother filled in was a life saver to me when she started with dementia. It made a very difficult situation slightly easier.

We had “old” LPAs so in the process of doing new health LPA. Friend did one easily-for free-online. I foolishly (!) instructed solicitor I know who wanted to charge £400 now reduced to £280(!)
Having worked in law you wouldn’t believe the problems people cause with DIY wills and LPAs though

We recently updated our wills but have not yet gone down the POA road.
We have three children . It does appear to be a sensible thing to do but I am not really clear about what it entails from a legal perspective. Can some one clarify for me and are there any downsides we need to be aware of. When we do decide we would do it through a solicitor.,

EPA'S are still valid but are only for finance. It is worth doing an LPA for health but really easy to do yourself on line.

My cousin's stepson is making life a misery for my cousin and her adult children. The stepson is challenging the POA in place for his father (who now has dementia) and has involved Social Services. If there are any possibilities of complications like this, I would not go down the DIY route.

crazyH

I have 3 children…..how does that work ?

We went with the elder two mainly because the eldest is very decisive and hets things done and our son works in the financial sector and is clearheaded and understands the process. Number three is relieved not to be involved.

Missedout makes a very valid point. If a solicitor prepares the LPA they will have to satisfy themselves that the person giving the LPA is mentally capable. In the case of a DIY one prepared online, who is going to provide evidence of mental capability if it’s ever challenged? Look at the references in this thread to people doing it for someone else, who then only needs to add their signature. You might think it would never happen to you but families fall out, especially where money is involved. Paying a solicitor to do something can often save a great deal of trouble and expense later.

Germanshepherdsmum

Missedout makes a very valid point. If a solicitor prepares the LPA they will have to satisfy themselves that the person giving the LPA is mentally capable. In the case of a DIY one prepared online, who is going to provide evidence of mental capability if it’s ever challenged? Look at the references in this thread to people doing it for someone else, who then only needs to add their signature. You might think it would never happen to you but families fall out, especially where money is involved. Paying a solicitor to do something can often save a great deal of trouble and expense later.

Well I was going to do it myself but after reading this I’m going to find out how much a solicitor will charge to do both the health part and the finance part..

Please check them thoroughly MIL went with her (idiot) younger son and neither of them noticed that her birthday was incorrect. By the time anyone noticed (it was the Bank that spotted it) MiL was in the Nursing Home, the house sale was delayed for months whilst they sorted it out. Fortunately the buyer was happy to wait ( he got the house cheap for a ‘quick’ sale)
The Solicitor was a ‘mate’ of my BIL so how they sorted it out when MIL had Dementia by then is anyones guess.

A wee warning!!!

The process is different in Scotland. The Scottish POA includes both Finance and Welfare, so you only need one not two separate ones. We used a solicitor to draw ours up when DH began to show signs of Dementia. However, when DH had to move into a Care Home and was initially paying full fees, I had a terrible time with the Bristol based stock brokers, who did not understand this and kept demanding a finance only POA before they would allow me to sell his investments to pay the CH fees.

I had to escalate this dilemma to the very top of the brokers and eventually was able to speak to a 'High Heed Yin' who agreed to change their guidance and rules to include Scottish domiciled investors. Their problem was that they operated exclusively under English Law which is of course different from Scots Law.

During all this palaver I was supported by my friendly solicitor. She told me that she had been involved in many complicated cases where Scottish domiciled people had completed the 2 POA documents themselves on line without realising that they should have been applying for the single Scottish POA.

Newquay

We had “old” LPAs so in the process of doing new health LPA. Friend did one easily-for free-online. I foolishly (!) instructed solicitor I know who wanted to charge £400 now reduced to £280(!)
Having worked in law you wouldn’t believe the problems people cause with DIY wills and LPAs though

Completely agree, there’s many a slip up. I would always instruct a solicitor as it could end up costing you a lot more than £280.

Did the financial one online some time ago. Takes a long, long time for them to complete it. Be very, very careful to follow the instructions carefully. They will charge again for any requirement to reprocess it all!

However it's done- just do it! (DH & I did ours, years ago. We nominated each other, plus our only child, & a niece.)
PoAs were in place for each of our DMs, thank goodness. (Both have now died but their latter years were helped significantly by POAs being in place.) IMO "health" and "wealth" PoAs are both needed - don't just do "wealth"!

We used our solicitor for both for my mum in law and my mum Expensive but just didn’t wish to make any errors

Our solicitors would have been over £1000 for the 2 of us, we did it ourselves for about £70. There’s nothing a solicitor can do that you can’t do yourselves.

I did both health and finance online for my Mum, quite straight forward, the hardest bit was gathering all the witnesses together.

vegansrock

Our solicitors would have been over £1000 for the 2 of us, we did it ourselves for about £70. There’s nothing a solicitor can do that you can’t do yourselves.

Looks like I might be changing my mind ?

Not difficult but it is essential to ensure they are signed dated in the correct order. No need to pay a solicitor.

My Nannas got rejected because I signed on the same day as somebody else. We’ve since done my mums and dads and they were ok

ClaraB

I did both health and finance online for my Mum, quite straight forward, the hardest bit was gathering all the witnesses together.

When I did my own POA last year, I posted the forms to my two children who were the attorneys and they posted them back once they had signed them in front of a witness. It was not necessary for them to sign while I was there. The only criteria re signing is that the donor (me) had to sign and date last so I waited until I had all the papers returned before finishing and posting it off.

I did mine during Covid but everything was returned from the OPG witching just a few weeks, they emailed me at various stages so I knew what was happening which was reassuring.

If you follow the guidance on how to complete the forms carefully, it really is not a difficult process and I don’t know how anything can go wrong later on. I still had to get someone who knew me to certify that I had the capacity to understand but it did not need to be a specific professional, just someone who had known me for more than three years ( I think it was three years). I guess as I was organising it myself, my ability to process it also shows I had capacity and so the won’t be any doubt later it they are necessary. I did not add any additional conditions or restrictions to keep it simple but I did discuss everything with my children beforehand.

Germanshepherdsmum

Missedout makes a very valid point. If a solicitor prepares the LPA they will have to satisfy themselves that the person giving the LPA is mentally capable. In the case of a DIY one prepared online, who is going to provide evidence of mental capability if it’s ever challenged? Look at the references in this thread to people doing it for someone else, who then only needs to add their signature. You might think it would never happen to you but families fall out, especially where money is involved. Paying a solicitor to do something can often save a great deal of trouble and expense later.

exactly this. Why my going to solicitor was worth every penny

vegansrock

Our solicitors would have been over £1000 for the 2 of us, we did it ourselves for about £70. There’s nothing a solicitor can do that you can’t do yourselves.

Your solicitor may have included the registration fees in the quote - £82 per LPA - and have given you some certified copies. An LPA can’t be used until it’s registered - so many people don’t do this until they actually need to use the LPA then find it can take some time.
I would suggest there are a good many things a solicitor can do that you couldn’t do yourself.