Jointly and severally POA

Robertbingham

Hi, Myself and my brother are POA for my mother. At the moment we are trying to sell my mums property to fund her care. An offer has been received which i want to accept however my brother does not. Can i accept the offer acting severally or do we both have to agree?

AMILLIONDOLLARS

It all depends on how the POA is worded, have a look at the wording.

But it would be beneficial for both you and your brother to sit and talk at length about this situation, Your joint duty of care is to get the best price possible for your Mother's property, maybe this is why your brother does not want to agree, the offer is possibly too low in his opinion?  But falling out about money at the beginning of this long process will not do anyone, any good at this present time.  Especially if you went behind his back.  Think?,  how would you feel if he did that to you? You are suppose to be working as a team for the best interest of your mother. Regardless of what eventually happens to your Mother, I am sure you will both want to continue your family connections. 

Robertbingham

The POA document is Jointly and Severally. The offer for the property is a fair offer and with the house sat empty it is deteriorating. It has been been broken into twice in the last 3 years. My other concern is that my brother is doing this for his own financial gain which is not in mums best interests. 

tacpot12

What is in your mother's best interests will depend on what will happen with her care if the house is not sold. I would accept the offer if there is a real possibility that your mother might  have to move or receive less care than she needs.  

Robertbingham

Mum is in full time care which she is currently financing herself. The local authority is going to pay for it moving forward and give us a bill of what we owe when the house finally does sell.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Unfortunately Rishi has now postponed  the October 2023 policy of capping fees at £86,000, until 2025 this may have helped by limiting how much a person pays for their care in their life time. Martin has talked about this. Is your mother able to rescind the present POA and make a fresh application?  If not, you may have to consult a Solicitor about your brother not carrying out his duty of care, he must be made to see that the longer he holds out the higher the bills will be in the end. Your mother may have the last laugh by reaching the age of 100+  

But looking up the definition Jointly and Severally on the Gov.uk website it means "you can make decisions together or on your own"  Make the decision and see whether he will legally challenge, I suspect that he will not as he will need a good case.

You can also approach the Court of Protection to have him removed from the POA, GOV.uk website once again.

Good Luck!