Enduring Power of Attorney (again)

mary43

But he is wrong if he says that all you have to do is sign her cheque and put 'Attorney for M Smith' beneath it. If you want to operate her bank account, you must take the EPA to the bank and they will record you (and/or your brother - is it joint or joint & several?) as the signatory(ies) on her account. Cheques signed by you beforehand will be rejected.

Both me and my brother already have access to her accounts. In my case I just pop down to the local branch and draw a cheque made to whoever it is, depending on whether its for a birthday, chirpodist etc. So our names are already registered with the building society its just that our names never got printed on the cheque book. It's not a problem for me due to the ease of access with our local branch and as my brother lives in Spain I tend to deal with most of it. It's just when we're at the care home, if something crops up we'd be able to just sign a cheque and that would be that.
The POA situation seems to me like the EPA covers everything there is to be done and quite honestly, mum is deteriating at the moment and not able to say much, let alone make decisions, but then, there are none to make.

Thank you all so much for your help. It's not until these things crop that you realise what a minefield it all is. I'm trying to get my 'house in order' so that my kids don't have to go through it all.
Bless you

Savvy_Sue

It is possible to add signatories to a bank account without the extra names showing on cheque books etc - at least it used to be! A number of years ago DH and I were signatories on a friend's cheques while he was out of the country, but the account was only in his name. I wondered if it would ever be queried, but it wasn't.

Of course all the rules have been tightened up since then so it might not be possible to arrange this as easily as we did then. But if your mum CAN still sign then is it worth asking at the bank what they'd require to arrange that?

harryhound

Becoming an extra signatory on the existing chequebook is what the bank (Midland/HSBC) allowed me to do in 2001, after a stroke had turned my (now dead) mother's signature into the track of a drunken spider.

I had an EPA but did not need to use it.

mary43

Mum's stroke affected her left side and for the last three years she has been able to sign her own cheques with her 'good' hand -her signature was weak and sometimes almost unreadable but it always got accepted. Now she's so frail she can't sign her name at all.
The building society have had all the EPA stuff so that me and my brother have access to her finances and we can draw cheques from her account or cash if she needs it . Our names are registered with them but they just haven't put them on the cheque book. I would think as our names are known we'd be able to sign her cheques is need be.
All this info has been very helpful. Hubby thought I was worrying over nothing but I want to do things the right way. It would seem very much like we can leave things as they are.
Many thanks to you all.
What an excellent site this is. I'm a 'newbie' and some of the issues discussed here so clearly help folk like me who have never come across these things before.

L-J-R

Well ervyone seems to be sorted, except me. The relative with EPA for my elderly parent (with severe dementia) died in the last week of September. I have been advised that I now need to apply to be appointed as a deputy, to take over responsibility. Application will cost £400, appointment a further £125, with at least £125 p.a. to be paid for supervision. Medical certification will also be required - at a cost. I have decided to forgo legal assistance (quote of £700). All this should come out of my parent's capital, necessary for care home costs - so I shall pay it. It seems reprehensible that the Court of Protection, in order to safeguard people, is charging so much - at a cost to those for whom it is meant to have cocern. I'd love to have a true breakdown of their costs - on the website, they claim the higher charges reflect the fact that the forms contain more information - but it's hardly complex information they have to deal with.

Biggles

One of the reasons I had been exhorting people to take out EPAs a few weeks back was the cost of failing to do so. Even before the recent changes, going through the Court of Protection was always horrendously expensive. Plus the additional record-keeping, to be able to prove you were doing everything correctly.

It's no help to you, LJR, but I would recommend anyone now contemplating an LPA to appoint more than one attorney (on a 'jointly and severally' basis) in case one dies or becomes incapable in some way.