buying a house and power of attorney

poppy10_2

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I believe that is a medical decision, not a legal one

Believe what you like, son. I deal with these issues day in and day out in my job, so I know I'm right, but if you want to believe something different then that's fine.

Why does this bother you so much?

Ditch_Crawler

poppy10 wrote: »

Believe what you like, son. I deal with these issues day in and day out in my job, so I know I'm right, but if you want to believe something different then that's fine.

Why does this bother you so much?

I take it that your answer to my question is either 1: you do not know; or 2: solicitors receive no training at all in how to assess the mental health of their clients.

dc

poppy10_2

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

I take it that your answer to my question is either 1: you do not know; or 2: solicitors receive no training at all in how to assess the mental health of their clients.

As I have said several times already, solicitors do not need to assess mental health at all. They are not doctors. They do however need to assess capacity, which is a legal concept, not a medical one.

You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about this. I'm not quite sure what your problem is, but maybe you should start your own thread if you want to debate the rights and wrongs of solicitors assessing capacity. OP has hopefully had her question answered by now.

Ditch_Crawler

My guess is that, unless specifically trained, solicitors have limited understanding of mental health issues, and it would be very hard to defend in court their unilateral decisions about the mental capacity of any of their clients.

dc

not_loaded

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I believe that is a medical decision, not a legal one - I have no axe to grind here - I just find it surprising that lawyers would leave themselves so exposed.
DC

We’ve probably done this to death now with the OP’s and your points adequately answered. The simple fact is that this world is not perfect, and yes, you can pick holes in it everywhere.

As I commented above, you could choose the right time to present granny in one of her ‘good spells’, and I’m sure that’s been done by unscrupulous people many times.

As for your concern that lawyers would ‘leave themselves so exposed’, as in post #9 above they would have been able to demonstrate in one way or another that they took reasonable care at the time.

Granny could well be cavorting naked on the Town Hall steps an hour later, but as long as she came across as rational and ‘normal’ during the appointment they’re easily covered.

timmyt

jackieb wrote: »

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?

your son can legally give you the Power, but will a lender allow you to sign his mortgage offer (if he is getting a mortgage) that is the problem. check with them.

timmyt

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

Specifically, what training do they receive?

dc

its a legal test, noit a medical one. and that is why ALWAYS use a lawyer for a will, as they can make sure your own will is not challenged by anyone.

use a will writer and ...good god how many wills there must be out there that are not up to scratch.

timmyt

Ditch_Crawler wrote: »

My guess is that, unless specifically trained, solicitors have limited understanding of mental health issues, and it would be very hard to defend in court their unilateral decisions about the mental capacity of any of their clients.

dc

Ditch Crawler - you are mistaken. Its a legal test.

Richard_Webster

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ditch Crawler
My guess is that, unless specifically trained, solicitors have limited understanding of mental health issues, and it would be very hard to defend in court their unilateral decisions about the mental capacity of any of their clients.

dc

Ditch Crawler - you are mistaken. Its a legal test.

I agree. If a doctor is asked to assess mental capacity then a solicitor has to write to him explaining the level of capacity required for the particular matter.

Actually this whole thread has been hijacked by this quite irrelevant discussion about LPAs when all that is needed in this case to deal with the point raised by OP is a GPA or possibly a General Trustee Power of Attorney - both quite simple documents. Of course if the son has already gone abroad it will have to be sent/e-mailed to him to sign. Also a lender may not accept a mortgage deed signed by an attorney so that point needs to be checked.