Finalising my Power of Attorney(s)

db3745

I hope no-one minds too much that I'm posting on this board. It's the one I'm most familiar with, and when I search I've found that LPAs pop up on many different ones anyway.

I decided to prepare both types  - Finance and Health - for the 3 people in my household, so 6 in all. Spouse and myself, plus adult child, all with capacity, but aware that that could change in an instant. I'm doing it online, more because I really should be capable than just to save money. I've read background material to help make sure that I do it all correctly. It was pretty scary to see that they were quoting 24 weeks or more to process applications, and a significant number were being rejected for errors. Apart from another nearly £500 the thought of having to start all over again has me paranoid. I'm desperate to get it right.

I've registered and now prepared all the forms (online), discussing with my 2 household members possible attorneys and replacements. We each have 3 attorneys, the third being our elder adult child living with family a train ride away. We are in our 70s, children 40s, which is why I/we settled on 3 attorneys, so that LPAs can continue hopefully for many years. I've kept replacements to a minimum - only one in my Finance and Property LPA to cover for me not having capacity which would leave only one with adequate financial knowhow. That seems to me a happy medium, given our ages, and though we cover 2 very different households age-wise, there's no family disharmony.

I've left it at no preferences or instructions, understanding the difference between the two, and that instructions can be dangerously limiting. I've read that even preferences can be an issue, and what's swaying me is that it could hopefully be several years before these came into force, giving preferences time to change, but mostly I hear that LPA applications are often rejected because of poorly worded preferences. I'll consider a "statement of wishes" which I think can be written up at some stage once we've got these LPAs accepted.

A friend and neighbour will be certificate provider for the 6 LPAs. I know the forms have to be signed and dated in order of donor/certificate provider/attorney(s)

The gov.co.uk website has been very helpful but now that I've checked all my details I've reached my first point of real confusion - well I think I've worked it out now. I thought I might be able to see a preview of what the forms look like that have to be signed before taking the plunge and finalising each LPA, as there's no going back and making corrections once you finish the form. But no! I think it'll become clear when I do complete the first stage, pay up, and download the 6 part-completed LPAs (6 x 20 pages I think?). I get it now that donor has to sign off his/her section on each set, but has to have his signature witnessed by someone other than an attorney - can't see that it can't be the certificate provider? but I can ask a third party. Attorneys can witness another attorney, but donor can't witness an attorney.

Finally I'll ensure that everything's signed and dated in correct order. Any advice or tips will be very welcome. I'll hopefully report back on how long it takes to be approved.

p00hsticks

On timescales - my parents did theirs just before Xmas through a solictor and they came through this past week so about 16 weeks. (Unfortunately my father has died in the interim, but having my mothers will make it much easier for me as executor when dealing with his estate and transferring things over to her).  

When I signed the applications I was told not to use a family member as witness to my signature - I don't think it is explicitly forbidden but the solicitor said not to). 

kaysdee

The certificate provider can also be a witness for the donor and attorney signatures. I have LPAs for my husband and son (done at separate times) and the certificate provider witnessed all the signatures in each instance.

Yorkie1

This article is useful to outline the duties that a certificate provider must carry out - it's not just a rubber stamping exercise

Consumer3

Go through each draft and double check for spelling mistakes and address postcodes etc. 

I did both LPA’s online for my Mother and she had given me a wrong spelling for the certificate providers name. Only noted by the Certificate Provider when she came to sign her part. 

They can be corrected however I didn’t want to risk them being rejected so we did fresh ones. 

This was in Feb and I have had the email to say they have been received, but that’s all so far. Expecting around 20 weeks in total. 

Ciprico

This may not be in the spirit, and may be downright wrong, but it works...

We passed ours around to all the various people involved to fill out but requested no one puts in any dates.

 Then added the same date in all the required fields in one go afterwards...

The form could potentially be properly completed all in one day, (so same date could be possible with all signatories signing in right order) but getting any date out of order will void the form. Using the same date removes this possibility....

Albermarle

Ciprico said:

This may not be in the spirit, and may be downright wrong, but it works...

We passed ours around to all the various people involved to fill out but requested no one puts in any dates.

 Then added the same date in all the required fields in one go afterwards...

The form could potentially be properly completed all in one day, (so same date could be possible with all signatories signing in right order) but getting any date out of order will void the form. Using the same date removes this possibility....

Good advice above 

Another point is that if you do see a mistake that you only notice after you have paid, I think often you have to start again from scratch. 
You just never send the old one off ( obviously) and ignore reminders to do so. After a while it is cancelled in the system and your payment is refunded. 

A second point is that although you do not need a solicitor/professional to be the certificate provider in England ( I think you do in Scotland) it is advisable if there is any question that the donor has any problems with their faculties. For example the donor may be in the early stages of dementia, but still able to understand what they are signing. To avoid maybe someone at a later stage ( when the dementia has got worse) saying that the LPA should never have been granted. Then it is useful to have a professional vouch that the donor was understanding what they were doing when they signed it.

mebu60

I seem to recall it was possible to reprint individual pages if one (or more) was messed up during the signing process. Thankfully that wasn't necessary.

I also scanned in all the signed pages before posting, just in case. Bit of a tedious job that also turned out not to have been necessary as all arrived and were processed. Eventually! 

VKE

Ciprico said:

This may not be in the spirit, and may be downright wrong, but it works...

We passed ours around to all the various people involved to fill out but requested no one puts in any dates.

 Then added the same date in all the required fields in one go afterwards...

The form could potentially be properly completed all in one day, (so same date could be possible with all signatories signing in right order) but getting any date out of order will void the form. Using the same date removes this possibility....

This is exactly what we did with my F-I-L's and ours; all came back without any issuss