MAke your Enduring Power of Attorney before 1st Oct

Katykat · 4 September 2007 at 12:10PM

In case anyone is not aware of this, the is new legislation to be introduced on 1st Oct. This changes from being an Enduring Power of Attorney to a Lasting Power of Attorney. I really dont understand the legal implications of this, but it does mean that it will cost a lot more money to make one. One solicitor around here is quoting £500. Now then, at the moment you can still make an Enduring Power of Attorney, and it doesn't cost anything.
My mum wanted to make one a while ago. She was quoted £75 by a solicitor. I found that she could do it online through "Tenminutewill.co.uk. They charged £40. I decided to make one myself so I looked at the Public Guardianship web site, and downloaded their form, and Lo and behold, it was the exact same form that my mum paid £40 for. And it was free. It is a legal document, in fact I have had to invoke my mums power of attorney and there was absolutely no problem with it. I dont know whether it will be possible to do the same when it changes on 1st Oct, or if you really will need a solicitor, but my advice is to get one done before then, and do it for free from here http://www.guardianship.gov.uk/downloads/Make_An_EPA.Web.pdf

moonrakerz · 4 September 2007 at 3:16PM

I believe the new PoA requires registering with the Courts when it is drawn up, there is a "small" fee of £150 to do this !

Katykat · 4 September 2007 at 4:06PM

Well in fact the existing one has to be registered with the court when it is invoked and that is £150, so are you thinking of that? Afraid there is no way out of that. Although anyone can draw the document up without any cost, because actually invoking it ahas to be done through the court, they do charge a fee. In part, it is to protect the donor and thsy do have to be paid for their time and effort. But added to this is the fact that you have to pay a fee to help your relatives avoid going into debt because they cant get to the bank to draw their money out. So its all the more important to do as much as you can without incurring any cost. So- get it done before 1st oct. Incidentally, if you think it you will never be in a postition to need one of these documents, THINK AGAIN. Not having one is just burying your head in the sand. Same as not making a will. If you are ever incapacitated, the courts will appoint themselves POA, and we all now what that can lead to.

noh · 4 September 2007 at 7:07PM

Katykat wrote: »

Well in fact the existing one has to be registered with the court when it is invoked and that is £150, so are you thinking of that? Afraid there is no way out of that. Although anyone can draw the document up without any cost, because actually invoking it ahas to be done through the court, they do charge a fee. .............

A EPA does not have to be registered before it can be used. Registration is only needed if the donor becomes mentally incapable of managing their own affairs.

Nigel

Biggles · 4 September 2007 at 7:16PM

When you say 'invoking it has to be done through the court', what you actually mean is that if the donor loses mental capacity, you need to register the EPA with the Court of Protection before it can be used on their behalf.

But you can use the EPA at any time without registration as long as the donor retains mental capacity.

This can be enormously useful, for example when elderly parents become immobile and need you to carry out financial duties for them or even when a member of the family goes travelling abroad or is injured and confined to bed for some time etc etc. Under these circumstances, the donor is still making the decisions, as before, but you are able to authorise banks, solicitors etc and sign documents for them.

As you rightly say, this type of Enduring Power of Attorney cannot be signed after 30 Sep. However, if you have one signed, dated and witnessed by then, it will remain valid indefinitely and you will still be able to register it at any future date should the donor lose mental capacity.

Everyone should get one signed now!!

moonrakerz · 4 September 2007 at 9:06PM

Katykat wrote: »

Well in fact the existing one has to be registered with the court when it is invoked and that is £150, so are you thinking of that?

I think that has to be paid "up front" now.

Biggles · 5 September 2007 at 8:38AM

moonrakerz wrote: »

I think that has to be paid "up front" now.

Not now, but you'll have to pay upfront if you don't make an EPA before 1 Oct - another good reason to download the form from http://www.guardianship.gov.uk/downloads/Make_An_EPA.Web.pdf and get weaving now!

Katykat · 5 September 2007 at 9:06AM

You are all correct. I had to register my mums because she is now incapable of managing her affairs because she has Alzeimers. She knew she had it but made her EPA before she became incapable. I have to pay her care fees now so I had to have access to her bank account and also to sell her house when the time comes. Incidentally, a relative of mine was looked after by her husband when she develpoed Alzeimers. He obviously had all their money. he died suddenly and my Br-in law had a dreadful time applying to the court of protection to manage her affairs. It cost £2000 to register and he pays £350 every year and had to account for every single penny, just so his mum doesn't get into debt. So, moral of the tale is get your EPA done before 1st Oct, but even if you cant and you have to take out a Lasting POA, do it, because even that will be cheaper than not doing it at all.

scorpio_biker · 5 September 2007 at 1:24PM

I agree with KatyKat - my husband and I are in the process of doing this even though we are only in our early 40's. We are both motorcyclists and the chances of one of us being involved in an accident that leaves us unable to manage our affairs is quite high.

We made the decision after reading this article
http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/money/planningforfuture/CourtofProtection.asp
which is actually quite scary because I had always assumed that if anything happend to my husband I would be able to manage his affairs.

Of particular interest was another article I found
http://www.saga.co.uk/money/retirement/enduring-power-of-attorney-power-to-your-people.asp
which states "Joint bank accounts will normally be frozen when either party loses capacity until the power of attorney is sorted out" which gives me additional impetus to set up an EPA as all our accounts are joint. The last thing I would want to be worrying about if the worst should happen is how I will pay my mortage.

Incidentally I do work for Saga - but not in the magazine department - and I was reading my mums copy at the time

Somerset · 5 September 2007 at 2:06PM

I've wondered about this before - this thread is useful as it spells it out.

Just to be clear - if my elderly parent signs an EPA now, it doesn't need to be registered with the court. If she ever becomes incapacitated and can't look after her own affairs, I can then take that signed/dated/witnessed EPA and get it registered at court, presumerably providing medical evidence or whatever to demonstrate why the EPA needs to be activated ? Is that correct ?

moonrakerz · 5 September 2007 at 2:15PM

Biggles wrote: »

Not now, but you'll have to pay upfront if you don't make an EPA before 1 Oct -

That is exactly what I said in my first post !

MAke your Enduring Power of Attorney before 1st Oct

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