Post bankruptcy and Power of Attorney question
TwoGuitars
Forumite 
I am wondering if anyone has had a similar issue to me. I had to file for bankruptcy in 2008. Last year we set up Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) for both my elderly parents with me as their attorney for both financial and health. When I saw the solicitor she didn’t ask me whether I was, or had been bankrupt. (They cost £1300 for both parents.) I genuinely didn’t think about the bankruptcy affecting these LPAs. This may sound naïve but my only interest in the LPAs is their care and wellbeing. I look after both of them as they are nearing 100 years old.
Recently I was trying to move my parents’ ISAs within their own bank to get a higher rate of interest and so had to verify my own ID with their bank and go in for a meeting with an adviser at Barclays bank. She was processing my ID and then asked if I had previously had an account with them, which I did at the time of the bankruptcy. Of course my bankruptcy came up on her screen. As a result, I am not able to be an attorney for either of my parents. I realise now I should have researched this before we set up the LPAs but just didn't think about it. There may be problems ahead.
My issue is; shouldn’t the solicitor have asked me whether I was or had been bankrupt? Obviously, it wouldn’t have gone ahead if she had asked the question. The sad thing is that this has caused the pain of bankruptcy to rear its ugly head again. Barclays regard me almost as a criminal, they don’t know the reasons for the cause of bankruptcy. I looked on the gov.uk website and it says that when choosing an attorney they can’t be a bankrupt. As I have been discharged a long time ago, I didn’t realise that I am still regarded as a bankrupt. I am going to email my solicitor when I have collected my thoughts on this a bit, but I guess she will say that I should have known this myself.
Replies
Quote this at them which specifically refers to undischarged bankrupts.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bankruptcy-restrictions-on-an-undischarged-bankrupt/restrictions-following-a-bankruptcy-order
I hoped it would be set out in the official guidance but it's so obviously a restriction while bankrupt that it does not apply after discharge.
And it only ever applies to the Finance/property version.
You will find that bank staff are not experts in things such as this, and tend to apply a blanket response without doing their research first.
More than a third of IVA`s fail....fact.
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