Power of attorney

Sterlingtimes

eskbanker said:

Sterlingtimes said:

My mother, age 94, has been operated on for a hip fracture and is now quite frail. I have a copy of a "Notice of Registration of Lasting Power of Attorney" Form LPA004. A case number is shown. My mother is the donor, and I am an attorney.  The Public Guardian states that the original registered LPA is held by my mother's solicitor.

How do I evidence this POW to banks, Hargreaves Lansdown etc?  Do I just send a copy of the one sheet of paper LPA004 to the relevant institution?

My understanding is that you need to get hold of the original document from the solicitor, or pay them to make certified copies.

Thank you for this. I will need to make contact with the various institutions.

Sterlingtimes

badmemory said:

Also without sight of the POA you (& banks etc) will not know what limitations may have been put on it.  Hopefully none but if there are it can be a bit of a pain.

This is a good point. I do not think that there will be any restrictions, but I will read through the vast paperwork that I have to hand. Thank you.

Sterlingtimes

Ms_Chocaholic said:

Has your mother lost capacity?

I am still trying to find the long answer to this question for myself. Putting the physically hit aside, I have a very different mother following her fall. She is not senile but has lost interest in life and is very demanding and clinically impatient. She is now dependent on a team of carers, but I hope we move towards a better position.

Sterlingtimes

Waunakee said:

I have recently just completed registration of Mums LPA with various high street banks/building societies in branch.Similar circumstances as she had a half hip replacement following a nasty fall.

Without exception,each institution required the original document (even though I did also have certified copies provided by her solicitor).Each then took a copy of the original in branch whilst I waited and completed various bits of paper required.

I also had to provide photo ID and proof of address for those where I myself didn’t hold an account.All very easy and straightforward taking no more than 30minutes at any one bank.

This is very helpful. Thank you.

Sterlingtimes

blue.peter said:

My sister and I are attorneys for our mother, appointed by an Enduring Power of Attorney (the predecessor of your LPA). When we registered it with Hargreaves Lansdown, they required a certified copy of the P of A, together with a covering letter (signed by both of us) explaining that our mother was no longer capable of managing her own affairs and including a statement that the EPA had been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. We also quoted the OPG's reference.

You might also be required to provide evidence of identity. I wasn't, because I already had my own account with HL, but my sister was.

My solicitor charged £10.00 per certified copy for the copy EPAs. They only accepted cash for this service. Other solicior's charges vary.

Hargreaves Lansdown did it all by post. My mother's banks required lengthy in-person interviews with both of us. They required the same paperwork and evidence of identity.

Thank you. My mother, my wife and I all have Hargreaves Lansdown accounts so that may make matters easier. I already have access to her account via the HL portal since I have long managed her account in consultation with my mother. I understand that the solicitors' countersigning documents is always cash-in-pocket. Encouraging.

I have been a joint signatory on my mother's bank account for decades so I am wondering whether I can continue to operate the account without the POA. 

Sterlingtimes

Thank you all. This has provided me with all of the questions that I need to ask.

Sterlingtimes

This is my own answer just in case it helps someone else in the future.

Natwest Bank takes approximately 20 minutes to answer the 'phone. They pointed me to the Office of the Public Guardian.

The Office of the Public Guardian is available on 0300 456 0300. They take approximately 60 minutes to answer the 'phone and complain bitterly about overwork. A fully usable copy of the original deed can be purchased for £35.

It is necessary to 'phone 0300 456 0300 option 2 and option 2 to obtain a copy. They take approximately 25 minutes to answer the 'phone. Again they complained about overwork. I paid £35. The copy would take about 21 days to arrive (because they are so overworked).

Once I have the copy, I have to visit Natwest. Hopefully, Hargreaves will be easier.

blue.peter

That sounds awful. You have my sympathy. Whilst we had to register Mum's EPA with the OPG,our experience wasn't that bad at all - probably because we didn't need to phone them. We just notified the rest of the family of what we were doing, completed a form or two, posted it off with a cheque, and waited a few weeks for them to confirm the registration in writing.

When I had to visit the Halifax to register the EPA with them, I was there for an hour and a quarter. It wasn't difficult, just extremely tedious. I hope that you find NatWest better than that.

If my experience with HL is anything to go by, you should find them a lot easier. I simply wrote to them, explained the situation (i.e., mother has Alzheimer's Disease and can no longer able to act for herself), and enclosed a solicitor-certified copy of the EPA (stamped by the OPG). I also specified that they should continue to address correspondence to my home. They simply replied like this:

The stuff about my sister's NCI was in addition to identity verification*, which they'd already done. This wasn't needed for me, presumably because of my existing account with them.

Good luck!

*Error of memory in saying above that this was needed at this stage. Apologies.

Dansmam

Apologies for hijacking but just hoping  to shortcut to an answer if anyone can tell me how long it currently takes to register. I have the old style LPA for my aunt and will soon need to cash in some investments to cover care home costs. Court cashed the cheque for the application but I've heard nothing else

Brie

To the OP - did the solicitor refuse to hand over the original copy of the POA?  I would have thought they were obliged to do this free of charge.  Once you have that they you can get certified copies at the post office - I think it's now £11 for 3 copies.  (can be all the same doc or 3 different ones, helps if you have a copy already made.)

Any institution you post an original or certified copy of a POA (or will) should return those to you by registered post.  But obviously due to the delay it is best to have more than 1 copy of course.

Hope your mom begins to feel a bit more like herself and things are less problematic.  I do also hope that you have discussed things about what she wants to have happening going forward, we're working our way through DNRs, living wills, residential care vs in home carers with both my MiL and my mom.  It's a lot of hard work.