Lasting Power of Attorney - what next in preparation?

peteduk

Hello,
About a year ago my wife and I both completed POAs for health and financial affairs. Since then I have been alerted to 2 questions and would like some advice please:
1). Someone (can't remember who) said we should lodge a copy of the health POAs with our respective GPs. I have searched the NHS and our GP websites and can find nothing on this. Is it something we should do, and if so how should we do it in this COVID era?

2). In trying to find the answer to the above on this site I have read about the need for certified copies, and that some organisations require originals.
(a). Should we create a number of self certified copies and store them - would prefer not to to do this as we don't know how many will be needed and it will probably upset my wife.
(b). I have read the Post Office can certify documents - much cheaper than a solicitor. Is this correct for a POA, and if so will their certified copies be accepted?https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification
(c). Failing that, is our only option a solicitor (or stockbroker???) when needed.
Thank you in advance,
Peter

elsien

Parent certified her own documents and gave one each to the three children who will acting as attorney so they're to hand as and when needed. 
You just need to make sure that people know they are in place and where they are - who do you have acting as your attorney when you lose capacity.  If that means giving one to the GP, or having it put on your record then that might help, particularly if it shows up on your summary care record. But it's not obligatory.

lr1277

Be careful about certifying at the Post Office. My mum needed a copy of her passport certified so she could open a Coventry BS account. The stamp on the copy was smudged and the date was “21 Oc”. Due to the smudging, could not tell it was the PO that had certified. Anyway the BS refused to accept the certified copy stating the date was illegible.
My mum returned to the PO to complain but was told that was the way it was done. No refunds or do-overs.

pphillips

The people allowed to make certified copies of a POA are the donor, a solicitor or notary.
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/certify
The Office of the Public Guardian charge a fee of £35 if you need an office copy of a POA.

tooldle

I had copies of my mums LPA certified by a solicitor local to me. He charged me £5.0 per copy.  My local post office is a small branch and does not certify documents. 

peteduk

Hello all, thank you for the replies.
My take away from this is the following:
1). No-one is aware of giving advance copies of the LPA to GPs etc so I will not follow this up.
2). Because many institutions require originals, and may not return them in a timely manner, It is probably worth self-certifying several copies of the LPAs for when they may be needed in future. It will save the hassle of getting others at a time which will probably be stressful anyway.
If I've got it wrong please feel free to correct me.
Cheers,
Peter

Scotch_Bonnet_

Hello, it may be a bit late for you, but my local post office certifies copies of documents, but not originals.

peteduk

Thanks Scotch_Bonnet_, but if we can self certify this seems the cheaper option, especially considering lr1277's experience

lr1277

Update. Forgotten I had contributed to this thread. Anyways we sent the application forms back to the Coventry along with some kind of form or receipt asking the PO to certify the copy as well as the till receipt which clearly showed the date. The Coventry accepted this same copied documentation and opened the account. 

However I still stand with my original assertion about geing careful with the post office as you may get a smudged/illegible certification.

Gers

I got a stamp made up with the required wording, stamped all the pages of a photocopy and DM (the Donor) dated and signed them all.  We now have one original and two copies plus a pdf version on my mobile.  Some organisations take emailed copies.

The stamp has been useful for other documents which required certification - recently used for Blue Badge application form (signed by an appropriate person) so it's not wasted.

Fruitcake

Some councils/local authorities may provide you with a certified copy for free. I did this years ago for my parent's LPAs at the Town Hall/Council Offices, but when I tried to do it for family members last year, the council said they no longer offer this service.
I once had copies certified by the donor rejected because the company I was dealing with them didn't understand it was allowed.

My Independent Financial Advisor will certify LPAs at no extra cost as I am an existing client, and also offered to guide me through Probate online last year, although in the end I managed it without help.

As for our GP Surgery, we took them in and the admin staff copied them on the spot whilst making a note that they had seen the originals. Our local hospital, Barclays, NatWest, Nationwide, and Santander all did the same and handed the originals back when they were finished with them. We did however insist that they never left our sight but all entities were happy for us to sit near the copiers in each case.

Really, the only time you need a certified copy is if you have to post it and either the other party won't return it or you run the risk of it getting lost in the post.