Living power of attorney

holisitic22

Hi 
My parents are elderly and wish me to be a living power of attorney to make visits to the bank on their behalf.  The GOV.UK is not clear to me.  Do I open an Gov. account on my parents behalf or do i create me own?  How are the banks informed?  Do I show some sort of letter?

Apodemus

You are quite right to try to set this up, but this is the wrong part of the forum for the question (this being the energy section).  Perhaps one of the moderators can move this across to the right pages.

To answer the question, though, probably should do this through a solicitor, to ensure that it is correctly set up and registered.  Once you have the registered copy, you can take this to the bank etc. (although I believe that there should now be a system that enables this to be checked online without sight of the actual PoA).

Alter_ego

Google Lasting power of attorney, DIY, It's very simple to do and costs around £80 each

dunstonh

Alter_ego said:

Google Lasting power of attorney, DIY, It's very simple to do and costs around £80 each

And make that closer to £500-£1000 if a solicitor or will writer company is involved (often, the lower the qualifications, the greater the price)

Farway

holisitic22 said:

Hi 
My parents are elderly and wish me to be a living power of attorney to make visits to the bank on their behalf.  The GOV.UK is not clear to me.  Do I open an Gov. account on my parents behalf or do i create me own?  How are the banks informed?  Do I show some sort of letter?

Open on parent's behalf, fill in their behalf as well, then print off for co signatures.

It is this last bit that stops most frauds due to counter signatures being required.

No need for solicitors, the Gov site is quite clear, just fill in the spaces where required

Once it has been approved by the Office of Public guardian, it is online, you will have a reference number and anyone, like a bank, can look at it

holisitic22

Alter_ego said:

Google Lasting power of attorney, DIY, It's very simple to do and costs around £80 each

thank you, I did go onto the Gov.uk website but I found it confusing, do I create an LPA account or one on behalf of my parents?

KxMx

Either the attorney or donor can do the POA application, presumably that also means either can open an account.

Some banks offer the online service when you enter a code, others don't and each has their own procedure for registering the POA. The information should be on the website of your parents bank. 

If your parents are on a low income or benefits, they may qualify for a 50% or 100% reduction on fees. 

The waiting time is around 20 weeks currently so it won't be a quick process

MWT

holisitic22 said:

Alter_ego said:

Google Lasting power of attorney, DIY, It's very simple to do and costs around £80 each

thank you, I did go onto the Gov.uk website but I found it confusing, do I create an LPA account or one on behalf of my parents?

This is something your parents should be doing for themselves, or via their solicitor under their own instruction.

If they are not competent to do this without your involvement, it somewhat compromises their ability to give informed consent when signing the necessary documents.

Keep_pedalling

I would recommend you have a run through by making one for yourself, then you can help them with theirs. Leaving them until you are elderly is not a great idea, younger people also loose capacity through accident or illness and having LPAs in place saves you loved ones a whole heap of difficulty if it happens to you.

sheramber

It is your parent;s LPA with you as attorney.

Each parent has a form to complete but you can fill it in for them or help them to do it. But it is in their name.

You are named as Attorney.

Make sure you read the instructions about signing as signatures need to be done at the correct time.

bunnygo

go to this site and create an account: you can create an account for each of your parents. You are making a financial LASTING power of attorney, although it may be an idea to do the health and welfare ones at the same time. Each power costs £82.

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power

When it says 'create an LPA on line' that is a bit misleading; if you do that it will simply fill the form in online. You may find it simpler to print out the blank forms. Fill them in with each of your parents, then you need to get signatures in the correct order and witnessed as per the instructions. The main person you need is a 'certificate provider' who is the one who signs to say that the donor (your parent) is making the power under their own free will and is competent to do so. That person is either someone who knows your parents or a professional.

then get all the other signatures done and witnessed. Post off the completed and signed forms as instructed on the website. They will mark as 'received' in a few weeks, and then it is at least 20 weeks before the powers are registered. You can then generate an access code which you provide to banks etc to give you power of attorney access to accounts. You need to do this separately with each bank and it will take some work.

While you are waiting, you may be able to arrange third party access to accounts; speak to each bank about this.