Protecting savings

John464

Keep_pedalling said:

If, as is the case with the vast majority of people, she ends up never needing residential care you are likely to have an unnecessary CGT bill when the house is eventually sold.  The sole reason the advisor is proposing this is to earn a nice fat fee.  

CGT bill is probably best case scenario
I haven't seen any of these schemes that have actually worked
All those I have seen have been run by scammers
When the suckers have signed over their assets to the scammers 'trust fund for safe keeping' they never get them back.

Albermarle

John464 said:

mebu60 said:

I would also add that a DIY LPA costs £82. Takes a bit of time and a lot of printing! 

But if you feel able to take it on you will save on the costs. There is a lot of guidance built in the online process. You only pay when you are ready to submit so nothing lost cost-wise if you start then decide to pay someone else to do it. 

I get what you are saying because I resent paying expensive solicitors fees too.
But the thing that concerns me about this is that if the person gets dementia they can forget everything.
Including who you are - let alone the fact they gave you permission to handle their finances.
They might well say 'I never said he could do that!!!
(especially if someone has got to them?)
... and then what might some people be saying about you???
But if you have done it through a solicitor you at least have someone to back you up and cover yourself. 

One point is that when you do the LPA's yourself, you still have to get a ' Certificate Provider' to confirm that the donor is of sound mind and not being coerced to sign. They should not be related to the donor or the attorneys, and should know the donor well for at least two years.
You can get a professional to do this, which would presumably be cheaper than paying them to follow through the whole process, and would achieve the same objective.

TiVo_Lad

mebu60 said:

I would also add that a DIY LPA costs £82. Takes a bit of time and a lot of printing! 

But if you feel able to take it on you will save on the costs. There is a lot of guidance built in the online process. You only pay when you are ready to submit so nothing lost cost-wise if you start then decide to pay someone else to do it. 

This information only applies to England and Wales. Setting up an LPA under Scots Law is different and cannot be done using the online forms process. Whilst it is possible to do a DIY LPA in Scotland, a solicitor or medical doctor must interview the person making the LPA and sign the document to demonstrate the person making the LPA understands what they are doing.

More information here: https://www.mygov.scot/power-of-attorney

phillw

mebu60 said:

I would also add that a DIY LPA costs £82. Takes a bit of time and a lot of printing! 

And the office of the public guardian might lose it or send it back wanting corrections, when it's already correct.