Power of Attorney

Dh and I did ours a couple of years ago, naming daughters.

We downloaded the forms and filled them in ourselves, no solicitor. It wasn’t difficult. There is a fee for registering them (with the OPG as I recall) and you do need to read the instructions carefully since any errors will mean the forms will be rejected and you’ll need to pay again.
You need witnesses for your signatures - IIRC nobody who could stand to benefit.

We did both the finances and the health and welfare one. There was space on the latter for specific wishes. We both added a paragraph about our wishes re medical treatment if we become unable to care for ourselves, as well as being unable to speak with full mental capacity for ourselves.

Re cost, I have a figure of £65 (per P of A per person) in my head, can’t be sure, but you will soon find the info online.

In any case, it’d be lot more if you were to use a solicitor - quite unnecessary for most people I would think.

I did it myself online, it did take a little time and you have to be very careful getting things signed in the correct order but they explain everything very clearly. I think it cost £80 or thereabouts, a solicitor would charge a lot more.

I second what Witzend and tanith said, no point in paying a solicitor if you are able to do the forms yourself. Takes a bit of time, but not difficult if done in a methodical way.

I have been meaning to do mine online for quite awhile now, even bought a printer!! Really must get down to doing it, from what I’ve read it is quite easy to to online.....

The Office of the Public Guardian are very helpful.

When the health and wellbeing one is activated it is permanent but the financial one is more flexible.

We used Vocal - a group providing help for carers. They arranged a telephone appointment from their lawyer - free for DH (the stroke sufferer) and £70 for me. The POA had to be checked and signed by our respective GP's - face to face appointment as they have to verify you have capacity and are not under duress. It is private work so was £50 for DH and £80 for me (different GPs). Once signed by the people being granted it and a witness they are sent to office of Public Guardianship costing £81 each. It may be more expensive to use a lawyer not working for this type of organisation. You can do it yourself but we were still shaken by the stroke and was worth it. You still have to get the GP to verify it and the charge to have it registered. This is in Scotland.

Yes deff cheaper than solicitor recently sorted my dad, cost over £1,000 to do both, health and finances.

Even when you have registered it, it still has to be registered with some authorities to be able to act on it.

I tried to sort something for my dad at Halifax bank and they would not do it until I brought the official copy of the LPA which is stamped on every page.(which the solicitor holds at their office) no doubt would charge to take it out!! In the end my dad came with me to the bank and it was sorted in a different way.

Just posted ours to Office of Public Guardian this afternoon. All in all cost £362. We decided to do both after DH stroke - welfare and financial. All 3 DC and ourselves are named on ours. My DB and I are on Mum's yet it still took hours of stress with RBS to change her standing order to her gardeners when they increased their charges.

Just spent a fortune on mine. Because of covid I didn’t want to go to a solicitors or have one come to my house so I did it via the will writing group that did my will years ago. I’m glad it’s done though. Does anyone know if there’s something I have to fill in at our doctors as well to give my children permission to make decisions or access my notes? I thought someone mentioned it a while ago.

It's a good idea to have certified copies done to give to different organisations.

My aunt has just paid her solicitors £480 for two LPA's, myself and her trusted neighbour.

She started it off last October, and it's only just come through from the Office of the Public Guardian, apparently the courts have a big backlog. I'm not impressed by her solicitor on the IOW - they got my middle name wrong twice, which caused a two week delay. I recently wrote to say I had moved, and they didn't action it. Very luckily I was good friends with our postie and she gave the OPG letters to my new postman. I now have to send 'certified evidence' of my new address.

My aunt phoned me last night - she actually paid a whopping £680. She's very upset about it, and 'doesn't want to think of it' as she's off on a short break for a few days. I said she should ask for a breakdown of the charges.

We're doing our wills and POAs at present. It seems very expensive but worth doing properly. We had a near miss with MiL which would have been very expensive in the long run. Luckily, a doctor in the hospital tipped us off and we got on with it.
It'll give us peace of mind. The solicitor advised us to write living wills too but I can't think what to write except, 'In case of concern -get the Consultant!!'

Aveline, I regard the ‘specific wishes’ we added to our Health and Welfare Ps of A as sufficient Living Wills - in the event that we become unable to speak - with full mental capacity - for ourselves.
Because I’ve seen far too much of it, inc. at late stage, for a long time I’ve been very anti any ‘striving to keep alive’ in the case of dementia.
But I feel the same about any condition where I might be unable both to care for myself, and to speak (with marbles intact) for myself.

It’s common sense for everyone to have their POA, nobody knows what’s around the corner! It is simple to do but you do need to read the instructions and follow them carefully.

Aveline I have a living will, copies to DD, DS, at home and with my GP. It states if I have severe dementia, bed bound, no repeated antibiotics. In a major accident and in a coma likely to remain so then no intrusive medical intervention if the quality of life will be compromised severely. There is more detail, but that’s the gist.

No problem with DIY - we did ours many years ago - and I was so glad we had when OH became completely incapable about a year before he died.

There are very generous discounts on the costs - they ignored savings and just looked at income.

I honestly think your family will thank you when the time comes - it will make their lives much easier.

My late Dad had a very clear statement of DNAR but a junior doctor ignored it, carried on regardless and really hurt him. He died the next day. We were very upset and annoyed.

Thank you all for your advice, I did ring one solicitor for a price,over £800 I shall have on go myself on the gov.com website

MayBee70

Just spent a fortune on mine. Because of covid I didn’t want to go to a solicitors or have one come to my house so I did it via the will writing group that did my will years ago. I’m glad it’s done though. Does anyone know if there’s something I have to fill in at our doctors as well to give my children permission to make decisions or access my notes? I thought someone mentioned it a while ago.

I think they may just ask for a copy of your Health POA Documents as proof. Or you yourself putting it in writing that you allow your children permission to make decision or access your health notes.

midgey

It’s common sense for everyone to have their POA, nobody knows what’s around the corner! It is simple to do but you do need to read the instructions and follow them carefully.

You also need to know there are 2 types of POA.
In my experience I was POA for both parents..Health/Welfare and Finance alongside my brother. I insisted that we both made decision together.
What I found out at a later date when we fell out because he was not pulling his weight and also not sharing the Finance information was that he decided to pull out as POA and so because of this I was no longer POA. Something he knew and never told me.
Also if you have a Solicitor that you trust all well and good. But, do not go with a Solicitor that one of your POA know and advises you to go with!! Please go with a Solicitor that neither any of your POA know!!

It’s worth noting that you do not need to use your GP to confirm your capacity as it just needs to be someone who already knows you, such as a close friend or neighbour. This means the only cost should be what you have to pay to the OPG although there could be an additional charge to get certified copies of the original POA as although you can certify your own ( by writing a set phrase on every page with your signature) most people use a Solicitor to do this.

Certified copies are accepted by many companies as proof of the POA and you should try to avoid posting the original in case it gets lost! I have scanned a certified copy of my mums LPA onto my computer and have been able to email it to some places.

I have arranged my own LPA and also had to use my Mums to sort out her affairs now she lives in a care home with dementia. I have stated that my children can act jointly or severally which means that they can act independently rather than be required to have joint signatures - you have to trust them both in this case!

Although a fairly simple process, some care is needed with filling in the forms so read the guidance first and you also need to be aware of how you would like your attorneys to act on your behalf.

I think setting up POA is as essential as having a will.