Power Of Attorney

Beaker_Barrett

Hi all, my mum wants me to set up a power of attorney on her behalf incase there comes a time where she is incabable of making financial decisions herself.
Has anyone got any experience of  doing this themselves online and if so which company did you use.
Thanks in advance
Mark

elsien

You don’t need to use a company. If it’s nothing complicated you can do it yourselves online. 

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

I would suggest she considers doing both finances and health/welfare. It’s only £89 each if you DIY and if mum is on a low income there are reductions for that. 

80 year old parent and I did hers ourselves and it was pretty straightforwards. 

There’s a power of attorney thread on here somewhere if you do a search. 

What I would suggest is as you work through them (you can save them online but I printed off a copy for parent to scribble notes on as she went) really take time to think through any implications, especially with the health/welfare one.  Parent wanted to put in that she must stay at home, but talking through that that just would  not be possible with some illnesses gave the opportunity to discuss what was important and what levels of treatment she might want in different circumstances and was a valuable conversation to have. 

elsien

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3671735/new-power-of-attorney-guide#latest

Mojisola

elsien said:

You don’t need to use a company. If it’s nothing complicated you can do it yourselves online. 

And once you've done hers, do your own.

Primrose

Be sure to complete both the Financial Affairs and the Health  & Welfare documenta.  They are equally important and take it slowly, thinking about all the "what if" situations you need to cater for . You will also need to know an independent person - the certification provider who can sign to witness that your mother is Is in full possession of her wits and knows what she's committing to.  

I recommend that you register the documents with the office of office of public Guardian straight away although they don't have to be lodged with financial institutions immediately .  You can just put them safely in a drawer until they're needed although it's a good idea to get some certificated copies promptly made for lodging with banks etc as needed.  You can photocopy these yourself but must use the wording on each page and sign as directed by the Office of public  Guardian.

I recommend you never let the originals out of your possession.  . Institutions and the postal service can be notoriously careless with these documents sometimes and if you have to produce certified copies  always use RecordedDelivery. 

ceewash

I echo the above. Just be very careful to follow the instructions and don't make mistakes. I rang them about a mistake and was told to just initial it. Many weeks later it has been returned and has to be done again. Not difficult to do yourself and certainly worth it. Solicitors were charging £600.

Scotbot

They ceewash said:

I echo the above. Just be very careful to follow the instructions and don't make mistakes. I rang them about a mistake and was told to just initial it. Many weeks later it has been returned and has to be done again. Not difficult to do yourself and certainly worth it. Solicitors were charging £600.

They are very pedantic and it is taking a long time to process. I have just received my mum's LPA today it was submitted 19th October. I used a local solicitor as  mum was in hospital for 6 weeks and it was the only way I could get it witnessed . It cost £800 but that included cancelling an existing LPA.