Enduring Power of Attorney
ThemeOne
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Does anyone have experience with using an Enduring Power of Attorney?
This is the older power of attorney i.e. pre 2007.
I am the attorney for my father who is ill in hospital, and he's asked me to activate it. The solicitor who drew it up has told me this will cost £470 and will take 6-8 weeks for the process to complete. I've discovered this could be reduced to the £110 fee if I do the work myself.
I've now read that activation, or more accurately registration with the Office of the Public Guardian, is only needed if the donor starts to lose mental capacity (which he hasn't) and that it can be used as is straightaway.
The only problem is, stupidly, I never kept a copy when it was drawn up, so presumably will have to request a copy of the signed document from the solicitor. Assuming they send me a copy, is it then just a question of showing it to my father's bank etc, in order to be able to deal with them on his behalf?
This is the older power of attorney i.e. pre 2007.
I am the attorney for my father who is ill in hospital, and he's asked me to activate it. The solicitor who drew it up has told me this will cost £470 and will take 6-8 weeks for the process to complete. I've discovered this could be reduced to the £110 fee if I do the work myself.
I've now read that activation, or more accurately registration with the Office of the Public Guardian, is only needed if the donor starts to lose mental capacity (which he hasn't) and that it can be used as is straightaway.
The only problem is, stupidly, I never kept a copy when it was drawn up, so presumably will have to request a copy of the signed document from the solicitor. Assuming they send me a copy, is it then just a question of showing it to my father's bank etc, in order to be able to deal with them on his behalf?
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The solicitor who drew it up has told me this will cost £477
That is absolute rubbish he is probably quoting drawing up a new lasting power of attorney (the new type)
As you have found out you can do it yourself applying to the Office of the Public Guardian at a fee of £110 it may however take up to 6 weeks.
Stay very clear of solicitors
Although the OP has since come back to say that in his particular case it states that the PoA cannot be used unless activated (i./e.e lodged with the Office of the Public Guardian) in most cases I don't believe that even this this is necessary unless - as stated in the original post - the person starts to lose mental capacity.
We had an Enduring Power of Attorney drawn up for my OH to have POA for his mother before the rules changed (there was quite a lot of publicity at the time about how much more complicated and expensive it was all going to become.
She's perfectly compis mentis but housebound, so it was useful for him to have POA to be able to deal with her finances - they simply both signed it and he has copies of the document which he has presented to the bank, DWP etc
As she gradually deteriorated, we just gradually started registering it with institutions (banks, investment companies, utility companies etc) as and when it became obvious mum needed or wanted help with certain tasks.
Never went near the Office of the Public Guardian.
In your case, since it stipulates this must be done, it is simply a matter of whether each institution requires it. Many don't really read/understand or enforce the conditions.
eg mum's listed 3 attorneys (me + 2 siblings) and stipulated 2 out 3 must agree, but in practice not a single institution required more than 1 signiture.
2. There is no 'restriction', an EPA can be used in its present form without registration. Who says there is a restriction, the solicitor? He's probably still hoping for some fees.