P of A application issues

Primrose53

JudyBloom

We did ours through our Solicitors. I definitely recommend doing this. I think it is worth paying for.

Solicitor quoted me £1500ish for both parts. When you think you are giving them all the info to complete the forms anyway then, for me it was a no brainer. I think each part cost me approx £85 so less than £200 in total. People on certain benefits can get it done free.

I definitely wouldn’t pay a solicitor to do that.

We got a solicitor to do ours, and yes, it was expensive, but she pointed out all sorts of things that we would never have thought of, and gave us a lot to think about. I think it was worth it. I can't remember what now, and we got our wills and both health and financial POAs at the same time, so a lot of it is mixed in my head anyway, but it was things like whether both children should have to sign or if one signature would suffice. That's not as straightforward as it sounds. On one hand it could result in one of them making decisions of which the other disapproves (which could cause ill-feeling for years), but on the other, if we needed access to funds because we were incapacitated and one of them was abroad or otherwise unable to sign, it would be useful for them to be both jointly and severally able to do it. There was more, but that's what I remember. We asked them what they thought and agreed that either of them could sign - luckily they get on well, and in any case would only be asked to do anything if both of us were incapable, as we each have POA for the other before them, but we felt it was worth doing now, before it seems likely to be needed - it's easier to be dispassionate that way.

She also dealt with the registration.

Doodledog

Primrose53

JudyBloom

We did ours through our Solicitors. I definitely recommend doing this. I think it is worth paying for.

Solicitor quoted me £1500ish for both parts. When you think you are giving them all the info to complete the forms anyway then, for me it was a no brainer. I think each part cost me approx £85 so less than £200 in total. People on certain benefits can get it done free.

I definitely wouldn’t pay a solicitor to do that.

We got a solicitor to do ours, and yes, it was expensive, but she pointed out all sorts of things that we would never have thought of, and gave us a lot to think about. I think it was worth it. I can't remember what now, and we got our wills and both health and financial POAs at the same time, so a lot of it is mixed in my head anyway, but it was things like whether both children should have to sign or if one signature would suffice. That's not as straightforward as it sounds. On one hand it could result in one of them making decisions of which the other disapproves (which could cause ill-feeling for years), but on the other, if we needed access to funds because we were incapacitated and one of them was abroad or otherwise unable to sign, it would be useful for them to be both jointly and severally able to do it. There was more, but that's what I remember. We asked them what they thought and agreed that either of them could sign - luckily they get on well, and in any case would only be asked to do anything if both of us were incapable, as we each have POA for the other before them, but we felt it was worth doing now, before it seems likely to be needed - it's easier to be dispassionate that way.

She also dealt with the registration.

People do get confused about LPAs and Wills Doodledog.
The former is for while you are alive but stops on death and then the relevant paperwork is the Will.

Around the time Mum did hers there was a lot of radio and TV progs saying that the LPA is now considered as important as, if not more important, than a Will.

When Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimers the psychologist or psychiatrist who tested her said that it was vital we did it asap before she declined and was unable to make decisions. So we did just that.

Best thing we did because it was used over and over again in so many situations as her health declined.

*People do get confused about LPAs and Wills Doodledog.
The former is for while you are alive but stops on death and then the relevant paperwork is the Will.*

I know . I'm not confused about that, but meant that years later I can't remember all the things the solicitor made us think about - just that there were a lot of them, which makes me think it is worth the money to employ one to do it for you. The example I gave was from the LPA. There were others, and even more when it came to the will (eg what to do about future grandchildren, and various unlikely permutations about if we plus one or more of our children were killed in the same freak accident). Things we would never have thought of, but that someone with lots of experience of lots of clients' different situations has come across.

Doodledog

*People do get confused about LPAs and Wills Doodledog.
The former is for while you are alive but stops on death and then the relevant paperwork is the Will.*

I know . I'm not confused about that, but meant that years later I can't remember all the things the solicitor made us think about - just that there were a lot of them, which makes me think it is worth the money to employ one to do it for you. The example I gave was from the LPA. There were others, and even more when it came to the will (eg what to do about future grandchildren, and various unlikely permutations about if we plus one or more of our children were killed in the same freak accident). Things we would never have thought of, but that someone with lots of experience of lots of clients' different situations has come across.

I understand. 👍 We have a solicitor who has drafted our Wills some months ago. The Wills are quite complicated for various reasons and with all the hospital appts we have had to go to this summer we just have not had time to finalise them. I am still not entirely clear about a few things in them so have asked for clarification. Hope to sort them in Sept.

A good solicitor will always mention things you are unlikely to have thought of. People will say I’m biased but it really is money well spent. They will ask ‘what if …’ and explain the consequences if the ‘what ifs’ aren’t addressed, painful though it is for us to contemplate such things as our children pre-deceasing us for instance. The same applies to powers of attorney.

We did ours through a solicitor. It still took some time but paying the solicitor fees was worth it just for peace of mind that everything was completed as it should be.

Marydoll

Is it different in Scotland? We did it through a solicitor and it was done in no time. I'm intrigued by this thread.

Just what I was thinking, Marydoll. We did ours with a solicitor over Zoom after lockdown but before we were prepared to travel to his office. It cost about £400 (plus 2 x £85 registration fees).

Wheniwasyourage

Marydoll

Is it different in Scotland? We did it through a solicitor and it was done in no time. I'm intrigued by this thread.

Just what I was thinking, Marydoll. We did ours with a solicitor over Zoom after lockdown but before we were prepared to travel to his office. It cost about £400 (plus 2 x £85 registration fees).

Thats roughly what ours cost. We updated our wills at the same time. The solicitor came to our home, because I was very unwell.

Germanshepherdsmum

A good solicitor will always mention things you are unlikely to have thought of. People will say I’m biased but it really is money well spent. They will ask ‘what if …’ and explain the consequences if the ‘what ifs’ aren’t addressed, painful though it is for us to contemplate such things as our children pre-deceasing us for instance. The same applies to powers of attorney.

The solicitor doing our Wills is great. It’s entirely our fault they have not been completed due to us being tied up with hospital appts etc. She came to our house and did indeed point out a few things that we had not thought about. We definitely needed a solicitor for making our Wills as they are not straightforward.

However, prior to this by a few years when I printed off all the forms for POA for my Mum it all seemed so straightforward and logical that I thought I would give it a go. I also spoke to several people who had done it without using a solicitor. What my Mum was instructing me to do was ensure her best interests while she was alive and she knew 100% that I would do this as I had looked after her for 16 years already.

After Mum died, I also did the Probate forms myself and that wasn’t difficult either. Lots of people do that too.
No worse than filling in passport forms to be honest.

Doing it online is much quicker than otherwise and cheaper. My friend paid a lawyer £600.00.