joint Power of attorney problem with bank

irondeb

My dad is 98 and now bedbound and will be requiring care - he will likely have to pay for it as has too much money. He still has his faculties but obviously cannot visit banks now.
My brother and 1 are listed as joint power of attorney only (not joint and singular) , and need to access his bank account to pay for his house bills, care costs etc. Problem is, the bank are stating on their website we cannot be issued with debit cards amongst other  things. Does anyone have any ideas on how we can fix this? We are meeting with the bank next week, but I have a feeling we are going to struggle

eskbanker

If the LPA has been set up in that way, it will heavily constrain your ability to manage his affairs effectively, so the best way to 'fix' it would be to get the LPA reissued, but if you're both attending a branch next week then you might be able to authorise some standing orders or direct debits, etc, while you're both there together?

xylophone

Both to sign accounts can be a pain.

A case in point.   Someone I know has a right to  certain payments - these are received into an account operated by two parties (who are

on somewhat icy terms with each other).

A court order required that this account should be operated by these parties on a joint only basis.

Therefore it cannot be operated on line, neither can either party be issued with a debit card.

My acquaintance's payments are therefore received by cheque and that has to be signed by both account holders.

The account holders live  in different parts of the country.

One of them holds the cheque book and the other party will not pre sign cheques.

Therefore every six months, one party signs the cheque, posts it to the other party and waits for its return.

Then it is posted to my acquaintance.

All worked reasonably well until one party disputed the cheques being sent by registered post as it was inconvenient to have to sign for

the receipt of the letter and latest accounts.

This dispute went on for nearly a year while my acquaintance waited for two amounts outstanding.

Eventually it was agreed that ordinary post would be used.

Now my acquaintance waits to see what happens next time round......

LESSON - unless absolutely unavoidable,  choose either or both to sign.....

HobgoblinBT

You will both need to act jointly in all transactions.  That makes a debit card, by its nature being a single user payment mechanism, impossible for a bank to issue as it will go against the Power of Attorney.  You being joint Attorneys will also rule out most if not all banks’ internet banking services that can make payments on instructions of a single user. 

What can you do?

1. The best option would be for your father, you and your sibling to agree to create a replacement power of attorney where you are appointed jointly and severally so that you should be able to be issued a card and/or internet banking access.
2. Set up standing orders and direct debits for regular bills from your father’s account.