Power of Attorney (my Dad)

Keep_pedalling

proformance said:

Yeah but only if he has accounts.. He has been with the same providers for 20 odd years+ and didn't have the traditional online accounts. All that is sorted now.

Now I'm having issues with his banking. He keeps responding to phishing emails and SMS messages and then calls me to tell me HSBC just asked him to "approve a payment" etc. So then I need to go to his home to check his banking app to see if money was taken.

I've managed to get myself a joint cardholder on his credit account, but not his current account.

Things like this for example, keep popping up

I would suggest you get him a new email address and mobile phone number as his existing ones will be on a bunch of scammers hit lists.

Malthusian

RAS said:

If you are married, it might be worth asking dad if your partner could also be the second attorney? We ended up with one child and one in-law (who delegated most of the actual running around to anther child).

RAS probably knows this but just to clarify for others, attorneys cannot delegate - if someone has appointed their child and child-in-law as attorneys and they want a different child to act on the donor's behalf, the donor will have to make a new power of attorney.

There is of course nothing wrong with a non-attorney "running around" and assisting while the attorney signs anything that needs signing.

sheramber

I appointed my husband as attorney and my children as alternative attorneys if anything happened to him that  he could not act.

When he died it was simple to change things. They just had to confirm that they were willing to act.

proformance

So the desired attorney (i.e. me) cannot initiate this process on the person's behalf?

RAS

You can have a chat with your dad, and explain that it'll be a lot easier for you to help him and help him avoid the phishers. And a lot cheaper if he does it now whilst he still can. And download the forms and help fill them in.

Also read up on the signatories and ask who he'd like as a witness. You need to get ask the witness to agree and book some time when everyone is available. Once signed you can send the form to the Public Guardians to register it.

proformance

I spoke to a firm today who said they offer two levels of service - "Basic" and "Plus" (I've changed the names of the products to obscure their identity, just in case).

Basic is approx £200 per form (so £400 in total for financial and health) for the "Basic" and £250 approx per form (so £500 in total) for the "Plus" service.

The "Plus" is non-contestable with the "donor" is contacted directly. For my circumstances, I don't think I need that level as it is straightforward enough. 

Given UK Gov charges approx ~£80 per form (from my research), so I'd stand to save ~£240 if I could organise myself...

Just FYI for anyone.

RAS

Download the form and read the guidance. Any queries, come back here and ask. If you are still really unsure....

We managed to screw up the order of signatures which seems to be the biggest reason for rejection and is why the OPG recommend registering the POA promptly. They are seeing people who delay it and then the donor is no longer compos mentis.

There are two things that also affect your situation:

You are already doing a lot of this for dad and he obviously trusts you to sort out the mess.
You haven't got siblings who think this gives you advanced access to your (possible) inheritance.

Just remember that if your dad wants to, as long as he has capacity, he can change his mind.

katiepoppycat

proformance said:

I spoke to a firm today who said they offer two levels of service - "Basic" and "Plus" (I've changed the names of the products to obscure their identity, just in case).

Basic is approx £200 per form (so £400 in total for financial and health) for the "Basic" and £250 approx per form (so £500 in total) for the "Plus" service.

The "Plus" is non-contestable with the "donor" is contacted directly. For my circumstances, I don't think I need that level as it is straightforward enough. 

Given UK Gov charges approx ~£80 per form (from my research), so I'd stand to save ~£240 if I could organise myself...

Just FYI for anyone.

Make sure that the fee to to the OFG is included in this quote - it often isn't so it makes it more expensive than you think.  As others have said, if you keep it simple, and get the signatures in the right order it's not a difficult form to fill in.

Brambling

RAS said:

Download the form and read the guidance. Any queries, come back here and ask. If you are still really unsure....

We managed to screw up the order of signatures which seems to be the biggest reason for rejection and is why the OPG recommend registering the POA promptly. They are seeing people who delay it and then the donor is no longer compos mentis.
.

I helped someone with theirs a couple of years ago and as you say the only issue was the order of the signatures (she didn't listen to me) we were advised by them that if all signatures had the same date we wouldn't have to worry about the order

proformance

Malthusian said:

To echo the above, Lasting Power of Attorney forms are extremely straightforward. They don't need to be any more complicated than inserting the names of the attorneys (preferably at least two), the donor, the certificate provider, and signing in the right order. Register them with the OPG as soon as they are finished; if you have made a mistake that makes the LPOA invalid, they will send them back.

LPOAs only get complicated when people imagine they need to second-guess their attorneys and include all sorts of wishes and instructions. For most people these are unnecessary at best (and harmful at worst) and the "preferences" and "instructions" sections can simply be left blank.

If your father is short of money he should definitely make LPOAs as otherwise the Court of Protection will be in charge if he loses capacity, which is much more expensive and incredibly slow. If he has very little money he may also be eligible for a refund of the £82 fee.

He has very little disposable income and a modest sum in a pension fund (less than £15k).

There is nobody else who would make decisions on his behalf other than me. 

We don't have an attorney. Do we need to hire one for this?