New power of attorney guide

Keep_pedalling

pearl123 wrote: »

I found it "Your certificate provider can witness your and
your attorneys’ signatures." (from the official LPA)
However, still wondering if I can get it signed and then register it later? Has anyone waited?

You can register later, but as per my previous post it would be foolish to do so. No one knows when an accident or illness may strike and your attorneys need to be able to act for with out delay.

Spreadsheetman

pearl123 wrote: »

I found it "Your certificate provider can witness your and
your attorneys’ signatures." (from the official LPA)
However, still wondering if I can get it signed and then register it later? Has anyone waited?

You'd be mad to wait. I completed and registered a LPA for my father last year after he had a heart attack and he had a seriously damaging stroke 2 months later. That would have made completing a LPA, or correcting any mistakes if I hadn't registered it, virtually impossible.

pearl123

Spreadsheetman wrote: »

You'd be mad to wait. [/QUOTE

I now see peoples points about registering it immediately. Thank you.

Primrose

pearl123 wrote: »

I found it "Your certificate provider can witness your and
your attorneys’ signatures." (from the official LPA)
However, still wondering if I can get it signed and then register it later? Has anyone waited?

Really don't recommend waiting to get it registered. Life is uncertain and there's no point in going through all the hassle of having the documents drawn up, signed and witnessed and then falling at the last hurdle.


It takes at least 8 weeks anyway for the documents to be registered and returned and if fate intervenes and the donor has a heart attack, stroke or unexpected serious accident which incapacitates them even temporarily, you will find yourself unable to act legally for them with any official bank or other institution.


As has already been pointed out, if you've made a mistake in preparing the document you will also have lost the opportunity to have it pointed out and the chance to correct it.

maryroberts

Hello there, I've just started the process of completing the online forms for both types of LPA for myself and my husband. We are relatively young and healthy but I'd like to be well organised and obviously no one knows what the future holds. I've read all of this thread over several days and what stands out to me is that most people seem to have more than one attorney. We only have each other - no other family members or friends close enough to trust. I don't suppose there is an answer to this, we can't create someone to appoint as an additional attorney. I have a friend/work colleague who I can ask to be certificate provider & witness. She is a lot older than me so I wouldn't even consider asking her to be an additional attorney.

In the awful event of us both being involved in an accident then I don't know what will happen, no one will be able to act on our behalf to look after our finances etc. I'm only really considering one of us being able to act on behalf of the other if incapacitated.


Is it quite common just to name just each other as attorney? I really can't see any other way round this. Thank you.

Primrose

There are probably quite a number of people in this position when you look at the situation realistically and find there is nobody else suitable to act as another attorney. Having somebody much older is always a calculated risk given the chance of them becoming too unwell or incapacitated to act so I suggest going with the reality is far better than not having any arrangements set up. Many people go through life without P of A,s being needed at all. Count this as a cost worth paying if this happens but set them up anyway for your peace of mind.

We have both sorts set up and I've just taken the precaution of writing to our local GP surgery listing the names of our attorneys and also the fact that we consent to them having access to our medical records and making decisions regarding our health should the need arise. They have put an alert onto our computer records to this effect and also filed the information on their paper records.

I recommend that anybody with a Health & Welfare P of A does this to avoid any confusion in a medical emergency because with data protection legislation even husband and wife are not deemed to have the automatic right to access each other's medical information. The time to put these precautions in place is when all is well. The last thing you need is to have to sort such issues out in the height of an emergency when you are totally stressed out.

madlyn

My Mother passed away in November of last year, she had a small estate and had left everything to my Father.
My father on the other hand is sole owner of their home has several pensions and bank accounts, my Sister and I have said that we need to talk to Dad about the subject of setting up an LPA , more for his finances than anything else.
Dad is very cautious when it comes to money matters so when we do finally have "the conversation" We want to be armed with as much information as possible but don't want to confuse him.
Where is the best place to find all the relevant info??

Pollycat

madlyn wrote: »

My Mother passed away in November of last year, she had a small estate and had left everything to my Father.
My father on the other hand is sole owner of their home has several pensions and bank accounts, my Sister and I have said that we need to talk to Dad about the subject of setting up an LPA , more for his finances than anything else.
Dad is very cautious when it comes to money matters so when we do finally have "the conversation" We want to be armed with as much information as possible but don't want to confuse him.
Where is the best place to find all the relevant info??

If you look at the first page of this thread, there's a link to the MSE POA guide:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/power-of-attorney/?_ga=2.159874047.313488242.1553590177-423494737.1487771712

More info here:
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

madlyn

Thank you.
Will show this to my Sister.
The one think I am worried about is that Dad will think we are taking control of everything, so giving him the info to read will put his mind at rest.

Primrose

I understand your Dad's caution in money matters, especially for an older generation who are often very "private" about such issues.


You might find it helpful, as a way of prefacing a possibly difficult discussion, for you and your sister to "invent" a mythical individual known to one of you who found themselves suddenly ill with nobody empowered to look after their finances until they were better, so bills went unpaid, etc and sorting it all out was very stressful. . You could say that if he/she had given a family member P of A, this could all have been avoided.


You could perhaps suggest that now your mum is no longer alive to do this, he might like to think of setting up a P of A to allow you to step in if necessary. Emphasise to him that the powers granted to you can only function with his agreement, unless he is in non cognitive state, and doesn't have the mental capacity to make decisions for himself.


You could suggest that having these powers would enable either of you to act for him temporarily if he felt unwell for a short period and was worried about his finances getting in a muddle. No bank or pension institution will deal with a third party without a formal P of A these days, and it takes at least 8 weeks for the paperwork to go through the system, so setting this up now while he is still in good health may relieve him of any worries he may have about how his finances would cope if he were unwell.