DIY Power of Attorney

Mrs_pbradley936

I have recently arranged a POA  (finance) for my brother-in-law who has mild dementia. Everyone was worried in case his wife died first and so I looked up online. Anyway it costs £82 and is not in the least bit difficult. You need the person themselves, the person who will be responsible (you can have more that one), a "certificate provider" this means someone that is sensible and has known the person that the POA is for for two years and a witness. You have the opportunity to have other people informed of the application if you want to.

The "certificate provider" has to satisfy themselves that the person knows what they are doing and is not under duress.

You do it all online and print it off (20 odd pages) and it has to be signed and witnessed in a given order. Then you send it all off the the Office of the Public Guardian.

A solicitor wanted £600 - I thought I would mention it in case it came in handy for anyone. If you can fill in a Passport application then this should not be beyond you.

SevenOfNine

I agree. We did ours on-line, & then my mums.

getmore4less

Other people should not be arranging POA.

The doner should do it.

The certificate provider can be the witness.

Certified provider needs to be more than just sensible they should verify the doner understands what they are doing


Should also check everyone is familiar with the code of practice.

SevenOfNine

I'll clarify my comment "I did my mums".  I did my fully mentally competent, non computer or printer owning, 90 year old mums when she was at our home where PC, internet & printer are available.

Signing was done at her house on another day when all those offspring required to sign were there, mum, & her neighbour.

Pennylane

It is a good service and very straightforward.  A solicitor quoted me £1200 to do both parts and I believe the Health & Welfare part is just as important as Property and Finance.  It was invaluable to us on many occasions.

Gers

I've just arranged my own Continuing Power of Attorney & Welfare Attorney with my solicitor who has charged me £200, she's also done my Advanced Directive (£100) and new Will, for £200, all plus VAT.  Money well spent for me. 

RnK136

I agree.
I did Mum's POA online with no problems whatsoever, as long as you can gather all the right people who need to sign. Saved a huge chunk of money. Very easy to follow step-by-step online.
I also agree with other comments: do both the P&F and the H&W one. One is as important as the other. We ended up needing both towards the end of Mum's life as she deteriorated.

Mrs_pbradley936

getmore4less said:

Other people should not be arranging POA.

The doner should do it.

The certificate provider can be the witness.

Certified provider needs to be more than just sensible they should verify the doner understands what they are doing


Should also check everyone is familiar with the code of practice.

Oh for Heaven's sake! Not everyone elderly is up to speed with computers and the internet, he wanted it and I did the donkey work. There is a reason that it is able to be DIY on the internet and if you needed a law degree then it wouldn't be.

relishy57

I have done mine as a 60 something 😆 In recent years I have seen my parents, Aunts, Uncles all struggle to understand the need for this whilst infirm and confused. It’s one less thing to worry about hopefully a long way down the line. 

Whilst there are always concerns re coercion loving relatives should be able to assist family. The bad apples will always find a way to get to the money as we see all too clearly whilst reading many posts on here. 

Flugelhorn

I did both but when it came to it there was a problem with the H&W so unable to register it - too late to do a new one but actually the key one was the P&F.

When it comes to H&W - the health side is done on  a "best interests" basis and the welfare... well I found that all involved were delighted if I would just sort it out