Power of attorney

Primrose

I think two things need to be done as soon as possible
A). Get his doctor to certify that he is still in sufficiently sound mind to know what he is doing
b). Have a Certificate provider for the LPA who has known him for two years and who can also certify that he is aware of what he is doing.

Don,t rely of adding signatories to a bank account to get yiurnoutnof difficulties further down the line and make sure both LPAs are completed (the Finance and Property one and also the Health & welfare one. This should then cover all future eventualities.

The forms can be completed online but must be signed and dated in the correct order. I understand it takes about 10 weeks at the moment for the office of Public Guardian to process them so advisable to start the process as quickly as possible.

Keep_pedalling

Primrose wrote: »

I think two things need to be done as soon as possible
A). Get his doctor to certify that he is still in sufficiently sound mind to know what he is doing
b). Have a Certificate provider for the LPA who has known him for two years and who can also certify that he is aware of what he is doing.

Don,t rely of adding signatories to a bank account to get yiurnoutnof difficulties further down the line and make sure both LPAs are completed (the Finance and Property one and also the Health & welfare one. This should then cover all future eventualities.

The forms can be completed online but must be signed and dated in the correct order. I understand it takes about 10 weeks at the moment for the office of Public Guardian to process them so advisable to start the process as quickly as possible.

You don't really need A and B, as the donor's GP is probable the best person to certify the LPA, although they will probably make a charge for this.

If it gets to the stage that it is no longer possible to make an LPA then the only other legitimate option is to apply for deputyship through the courts, which is a laborious and expensive process, so get things moving pronto, and while you are at it get LPAs in place for your self as well.

martinthebandit

CathA wrote: »

Thank you. I'm seeing my own doctor on an entirely different matter soon so i might ask her opinion. Or would a solicitor be a better idea?

I think we, me and my brother, just used a neighbor who had known him for many years.

Lot cheaper (i.e. free) than either a Doc or solicitor.

Savvy_Sue

Primrose wrote: »

Don,t rely of adding signatories to a bank account to get yiurnoutnof difficulties further down the line and make sure both LPAs are completed (the Finance and Property one and also the Health & welfare one. This should then cover all future eventualities.

this is very good advice: it could cause problems almost immediately! If the bank becomes aware that a signatory on a joint account has lost capacity, then they can - quite legitimately - 'freeze' the account to protect the incapacitated person's interests.

Keep_pedalling

martinthebandit wrote: »

I think we, me and my brother, just used a neighbor who had known him for many years.

Lot cheaper (i.e. free) than either a Doc or solicitor.

If someone has had a diagnosis of dementia, that is not the greatest of ideas.

Fruitcake

You can obtain PoA anytime, but it is a lot easier if the person you are doing it for is still mentally competent. It is possible to do it for someone who already has dementia, but it is a lot harder and you need medical professionals to assess and state that the person concerned is not capable of understanding what is going on.

My brother and I were in the latter position and had to get my parents assessed by a dementia specialist who then had to write to the solicitor dealing with our application.

Essentially, the best time to get PoA is when people don't need it. By the time it is needed it is too late and it is much more difficult to obtain, but not impossible.

You can do it yourself by downloading all the forms, or you can get a solicitor to do it.

We recently obtained PoA for my wife and me and both her parents as a job lot. It took a while to go through all the forms but it is fairly straightforward.

When we needed countersignatures we held a PoA party and invited friends round who then went through each application in turn before signing them off.

We then submitted them to the Office of the Public Guardian to get them approved.

Once you have obtained PoA, you should then get certified copies made for the different establishments and companies that will need them. Some give them back and some keep them, so you should always keep a few spare copies.
You can get authorised copies from a solicitor that does commissions of oaths for a fee, but you may find that your local council offers a free service which is what we did.
I took the originals in and a council officer stamped each and every sheet several times. Once with the authority (council) once with a "this is a certified copy" and once with the date and a signature box. It all took time but was a very good service considering it was free.

Just a couple of other things. There are two types of PoA. One for financial affairs and one for medical. They are very similar forms but both need to be filled out (assuming you want both) and submitted. You have to pay for each submission so the cost is double if you do both types.

If you need something quicker for financial reasons, it is possible to get your bank account linked to that of the other person. This needs to be done in the bank with all parties present, but once done you can do their banking for them, write cheques, and log in and manage money online very easily.
I did this for my parents and now if I need to pay bills for my Mum, I can log in to my account then click on her name to manage her account.
You have to have an account with the same bank though for this to work.

HTH