Lasting Power of Attorney and Internet A/Cs

stuyvpc

Morning All,

After a bit of advice and wondered if anyone out there had been through this loop before. The situation is this.

I have Financial LPA for my mother who is now in a care home and I have some money to put away on her behalf after the sale of her house. Of necessity it will be going into short term savings - instant or 1 year max - and we are looking for a variety of institutions.

Many of the savings accounts are Internet only - is it legal for me to open an account in my mothers name, on her behalf through the internet. Everything will be registered in her name with her details, we will not be using ISAs, just normal accounts.

Any thoughts/advice appreciated

Thanks, Paul

talexuser

I also have lasting POA for my mother as precaution but have not had to use it officially yet so am not familiar with the exact technicalities. As a POA you just need to be able to prove that all actions/transactions are in your mothers' best interests so keep records of all actions.

If at some stage she may not be able to answer phone id/questions it may be better to open a joint account with single name access? Otherwise you might need to send copies of the POA to all institutions, some of whom sometimes have problems understanding/acting on it which will delay things.

Records will also be useful in possible inheritance tax issues if it ever comes to that.

If anyone else has advice I would be interested too.

Biggles

stuyvpc wrote: »

Many of the savings accounts are Internet only - is it legal for me to open an account in my mothers name, on her behalf through the internet.

No, absolutely not.

If you look through the bank's terms and FAQ's, you should find a reference to how they deal with PoAs. By now, they all know what they are and should provide for them, though it can be a bit of a faff opening them, and some don't allow online access, though most do. It may mean a bit of email/phone communication to establish exactly how to proceed.

Whatever you do, don't open a joint account unless you are prepared for the consequences of, for example, the death of one of you, in which case the other will wholly own the contents of the account(s). This will probably create more problems than it solves.

talexuser

Biggles wrote: »

don't open a joint account

I see your point if more beneficiaries/dependants are involved.

I have handled all my mother's savings for years before the POA at her suggestion of joint names for convenience (obviously not for the investment ISAs but I have dealing rights with the providers through her permission) and have always moved her accounts to better paying ones for her.

With no other beneficiaries, and each as the main beneficiary in each others will, and a deputy POA available I trust in the event of my death, do you see any other problems?

joerugby

talexuser wrote: »

I see your point if more beneficiaries/dependants are involved.

I have handled all my mother's savings for years before the POA at her suggestion of joint names for convenience (obviously not for the investment ISAs but I have dealing rights with the providers through her permission) and have always moved her accounts to better paying ones for her.

With no other beneficiaries, and each as the main beneficiary in each others will, and a deputy POA available I trust in the event of my death, do you see any other problems?

If (for example) you are a higher rate taxpayer and she is not and you go for joint accounts you are likely to increase the tax liability on the 50% of her income which becomes yours

ANGLICANPAT

I know you have POA,but thats doesnt always mean complete mental incapacity, especially early on, so is your mum still able to understand the concept of giving you permission to do various financial actions for her -even if she is past being able to manage the ins and outs of it all, herself ? Perhaps if that is the case , I wonder if she would be able to accompany you to for eg Barclays and open a current account and/ or ISA , with you as a third party? You could then legally operate it online.