buying a house and power of attorney

jackieb

When we bought our house my husband worked abroad for a month at a time. We went to a solicitors and I got his power of attorney so he didn't need to sign for anything and I could proceed with buying the house without the need for him being there.

My question is, my son is looking to buy his first house. He also works away from home for weeks at a time. He asked if i'd be able to get power of attorney for him while he was away. I said I didn't think i'd be able to, as my name's not going to be on his mortgage. My husband says I will. Who's right?

poppy10_2

You can get power of attorney for whoever is willing to grant you power of attorney. You don't need to have any financial association with them.

jackieb

Thanks. It would be useful if I can.

clutton_2

to get a legal power of attorney......it now costs several hundred pounds, there'e a huuuuuge form to fill in and witness declarations to get etc etc and it has to be lodged with yet another perishin' QUANGO

dontcha just lurve this perishin government.....

you can download it all from the web..anhd do it yourself... but if its for Lenders' requirements they may well insist on a Solicitor completing it for you - another couple of hundred quid.....

not_loaded

I think there’s some pricing and handling confusion with LPAs here.

At the end of last year I used a GPA (general power of attorney) successfully. No charge other than buying the pack at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Attorney-Lawpack-Legal-Kits/dp/1905261691/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272204941&sr=1-1

You can of course pay a solicitor money if you wish.

A GPA is merely an A4 sheet filled in with brief details of donor and attorney. If the donor wants they can give power for ANY purpose, or it can be restricted, for example, I give this power to NNNN for dealing with my property purchase in Town, County. Or you can restrict it by date for example.

It needs to be witnessed by somebody unconnected with the work empowered.

Strictly speaking you don’t even need the pack above, but it is full of incredibly useful info and includes all the forms on a CD. hth

poppy10_2

clutton wrote: »

to get a legal power of attorney......it now costs several hundred pounds, there'e a huuuuuge form to fill in and witness declarations to get etc etc and it has to be lodged with yet another perishin' QUANGO

As pointed out above, you are referring to Lasting Power of Attorney which is designed to continue in effect even after the donee has lost the capacity to consent to it (e.g. through dementia). There have to be all sorts of legal safeguards to ensure vulnerable people are not getting taken advantage of, which is why the form is so onerous and needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

For a simple General Power of Attorney, for someone that is capable of making their own decisions but just wants to authorize someone to deal with their financial affairs, the form is simple (you can do it yourself) and does not need to be registered with any governmental organization.

jackieb

I got power of attorney 2 years ago. We're in Scotland and used the solicitor that we were using to buy our house. It didn't cost us anything as it wasn't down on his bill once everything was completed. My husband and myself just had to go into his office and sign some paperwork.

Ditch_Crawler

poppy10 wrote: »

As pointed out above, you are referring to Lasting Power of Attorney which is designed to continue in effect even after the donee has lost the capacity to consent to it (e.g. through dementia). There have to be all sorts of legal safeguards to ensure vulnerable people are not getting taken advantage of, which is why the form is so onerous and needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

For a simple General Power of Attorney, for someone that is capable of making their own decisions but just wants to authorize someone to deal with their financial affairs, the form is simple (you can do it yourself) and does not need to be registered with any governmental organization.

What happens if a person is in full 'compos mentis' when granting a power of attorney, but becomes 'demented' at a later date?

Is a General Power of Attorney time-limited? Who knows whether or not a person granting Power of Attorney is in sound mind or not? If checks need to be done, then they surely need to be done every time. So what's the difference between Lasting Power of Attorney and a General Power of Attorney?

DC

not_loaded

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

What happens if a person is in full 'compos mentis' when granting a power of attorney, but becomes 'demented' at a later date?
Is a General Power of Attorney time-limited? Who knows whether or not a person granting Power of Attorney is in sound mind or not? If checks need to be done, then they surely need to be done every time. So what's the difference between Lasting Power of Attorney and a General Power of Attorney?
DC

A few years ago an EPA (enduring power of attorney) was replaced by an LPA (lasting power of attorney). Old EPAs still legally stand, but you can’t start up a new one.

Essentially they are to assist a person who wants their affairs kept under control if/when they deteriorate mentally. You just name a person or persons who you’re happy to have dealing with everything for you. It costs a fair bit on initial compilation and on eventually registering with the COP (court of protection).

A GPA is pretty much as described above, a simple document to cover general matters, or a very specific matter, and yes, it can be time limited if you wish to put it on there.

Becoming demented whilst a GPA is running means the power theoretically fails, but the holder would have to declare that and destroy (or otherwise invalidate) the GPA.

Becoming demented whilst an EPA or LPA is in existence is in essence exactly what it is intended for.

As regards a person not being compos mentis at the time, it’s left to the compiling solicitor to judge their state of mind. In my mum’s case the one doing the work had her visit twice for the compilation, and for the final signing/witnessing had one of the partners ‘call in’ and have a chat which was presumably their way of covering backsides.

Ditch_Crawler

not_loaded wrote: »

As regards a person not being compos mentis at the time, it’s left to the compiling solicitor to judge their state of mind. In my mum’s case the one doing the work had her visit twice for the compilation, and for the final signing/witnessing had one of the partners ‘call in’ and have a chat which was presumably their way of covering backsides.

Thanks for the explanation, which make perfect sense until the last paragraph, which suggests that solicitors are empowered to make medical decisions about people's mental health.

DC

poppy10_2

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation, which make perfect sense until the last paragraph, which suggests that solicitors are empowered to make medical decisions about people's mental health.

The solicitor does not have to make any decisions about people's mental health. All they have to do is assess capacity. That is, does the person understand the information they are being given, can they weigh up that information, understand the consequences and come to a decision. It doesn't matter what the medical diagnosis is, a solicitor can ask simple questions to check the whether person understands what a LPA is and its consequences - you don't have to be a doctor to do that.