Any hints and tips for LPA application

sheffieldeagle

Hi

We need to apply for both types of LPA for my mum. Both me and my brother are going to be the appointed attorneys and as one of the attorneys I'm going to do the application for mum. Can anyone offer any advice for going through the application. It all seems fairly straight forward but I was wondering if there were any common mistakes or pitfalls to watch out for.

Many thanks

Misslayed

We did ours through a solicitor (old friend), purely because of complicated blended family dynamics, but he was at pains to point out that it's really important to get all the forms signed in the correct order, so he just recommended that none of the parties dated their section, and he dated them all at the same time. Also check, and double check before you submit, as I believe I'm right in saying the fees need to be paid again if you submit with an error which isn't accepted. 

PS it was about 5 months before we got them back from the OPG. That was last year. 

Keep_pedalling

I have 2.

1. Avoid making the attorneys act jointly, as that will make the LPA useless if for any reason one of you becomes incapacitated. 

2. Make your own LPAs at the same time, no one knows when accident or illness may take away you mental faculties.

sheffieldeagle

Many thanks for the responses. Interesting regarding putting the same date for all the signatures. I did notice that would be one place where you could slip up. I'm also interested in fully understanding the role of the attorney. The solicitor dad spoke to recently said a lot of people don't fully appreciate the role and often do things that are inappropiate or outside their remit without fully understanding the implications..

Cheers

Brambling

I did both for a elderly friend pre-lockdown and it was very simple she did date a section incorrectly (didn't listen to me) and it was returned but she was told by them that the best way to ensure that didn't happen again was to put the same date on all signatures 

Ms_Chocaholic

Just echo-ing what others have said.

Always go for acting jointly and severally, if one of the attorneys were to die and you had selected "jointly" the LPA would be invalid.

Make sure the signatures are done in the correct order, really useful advice above about adding the dates later, I'd do that.

If you register on the Government website you can do a trial run of an LPA, then delete your draft and start again, repeat as many times as you want.  Useful to do a trial run so you can see the questions and jot down any queries you may have to look into later before deleting and doing a final draft.

sheffieldeagle

Thanks again for your help. I've downloaded the forms and everything seems ok but I've come to the applicants signature (Section 15) and it says if the attorney(s) are applying for the LPA and they were appointed jointly in Sction 3 (How should your attorneys make decisions) then both need to sign in Section 15. We are appointed Jointly and Severally so I'm assuming only one of us needs to sign?

Cheers

Malthusian

sheffieldeagle said:

Thanks again for your help. I've downloaded the forms and everything seems ok but I've come to the applicants signature (Section 15) and it says if the attorney(s) are applying for the LPA and they were appointed jointly in Sction 3 (How should your attorneys make decisions) then both need to sign in Section 15. We are appointed Jointly and Severally so I'm assuming only one of us needs to sign?

Correct. All the attorneys need to sign section 11 to set up the LPA, but only one needs to sign section 15 to register it if it's joint and several. For the same reason that only one attorney needs to sign everything after that.

I'm also interested in fully understanding the role of the attorney. The solicitor dad spoke to recently said a lot of people don't fully appreciate the role and often do things that are inappropiate or outside their remit without fully understanding the implications..

They mean that a lot of people use LPOAs to steal the donor's money. (Probably only a small minority, but it only makes headlines and forum posts when things go wrong.)

The duties of an attorney are not rocket science; anyone capable of managing their own finances can manage someone else's. If any part of the donor's finances are outside their comfort zone, they can (and should) hire professional advice at the donor's expense.

sheffieldeagle

Malthusian said:

sheffieldeagle said:

Thanks again for your help. I've downloaded the forms and everything seems ok but I've come to the applicants signature (Section 15) and it says if the attorney(s) are applying for the LPA and they were appointed jointly in Sction 3 (How should your attorneys make decisions) then both need to sign in Section 15. We are appointed Jointly and Severally so I'm assuming only one of us needs to sign?

Correct. All the attorneys need to sign section 11 to set up the LPA, but only one needs to sign section 15 to register it if it's joint and several. For the same reason that only one attorney needs to sign everything after that.

I'm also interested in fully understanding the role of the attorney. The solicitor dad spoke to recently said a lot of people don't fully appreciate the role and often do things that are inappropiate or outside their remit without fully understanding the implications..

They mean that a lot of people use LPOAs to steal the donor's money. (Probably only a small minority, but it only makes headlines and forum posts when things go wrong.)

The duties of an attorney are not rocket science; anyone capable of managing their own finances can manage someone else's. If any part of the donor's finances are outside their comfort zone, they can (and should) hire professional advice at the donor's expense.

Thanks for that much appreciated.