Last Power of Attorney replacement attorneys

baz8755

I am using the governments online portal to create my LPA

What I am trying to achieve is
-My spouse as LPA
-If my spouse is not able then relative A as a replacement
-If relative A is not available then relative B as replacement

I have filled in the details on the website and am happy with the primary LPA but am not sure how to answer the 1st & 2nd replacement to achieve what I have described above.

It would appear the choices for the replacements is
-1.Jointly and severally
-2.Jointly
-3.Jointly for some decisions, and jointly and severally for other decisions

Option 1 seems to be a best fit but I have 2 concerns regarding this. Firstly it does not seem to cover the prioritisation of replacement attorneys. Secondly and more importantly I am pretty sure I read somewhere on the website that if any of the replacement attorneys are not available the LPA becomes null and void.

I would appreciate help, advice, understanding on how best to achieve my desired result as well as the implications of just one of my replacement attorneys becomes unavailable..

TIA

Keep_pedalling

I don’t think you can do it this way as you can’t have replacement attorneys for a replacement attorney. An LPA only becomes null and void if one of your attorneys can no longer act and you have not opted for them to act jointly and severally, because one person cannot act jointly. 

Are A & B of a younger generation than you? 

elsien

As above, I don’t think you can put replacements for the replacement. 

baz8755

Keep_pedalling said:

I don’t think you can do it this way as you can’t have replacement attorneys for a replacement attorney. An LPA only becomes null and void if one of your attorneys can no longer act and you have not opted for them to act jointly and severally, because one person cannot act jointly. 

Are A & B of a younger generation than you? 

So if I select option 1- Jointly and Severally and one of the replacement LPAs is no longer available is the LPA still valid with the one remaining attorney?

If so this would appear to be my option.

Unfortunately both replacement attorneys are no more than 10 years my junior as I have no dependants to utiliise

Ms_Chocaholic

Yes jointly and severally and any of the attorneys can act individually or together so if a couple have died before you need to use the LPA then the remaining attorney(s) can act.

baz8755

Keep_pedalling said:

I don’t think you can do it this way as you can’t have replacement attorneys for a replacement attorney. An LPA only becomes null and void if one of your attorneys can no longer act and you have not opted for them to act jointly and severally, because one person cannot act jointly. 

Are A & B of a younger generation than you? 

I just went in to complete the form and according to the help it may be possible with an entry in the INSTRUCTIONS section similar to this

'If my attorney "Attorney" can no longer act, I would like that attorney to be replaced by "Replacment A" who is one of my replacement attorneys. If "Replacement A" can no longer act, I would like my other replacement attorney "Replacement B", to step in to replace that person as my attorney.' 

Grey_Critic

I hold Power of Attorney for my wife (she has dementia) with our sons being the replacement attorney’s. We have appointed our sons as attorneys for me. They are also joint executors of our wills. When setting them up we did consult a solicitor and he advised we adopt jointly and severally.

We have kept everything as simple as possible - I manage the financial matters but they have created several Google documents that you can be viewed and edited these serve as reference in an emergency. If for example you (Dad) or Mum are taken into hospital then this will provide a go to reference. Whilst the NHS does have some of this information, it's better to have it to hand. Some of this may sound silly, but if you arrive in hospital without your glasses, there is no way for them to know that you are struggling to see. If there is an emergency, it's just as likely to occur when Frank and I are out of town as when we are local.

I have also shared a financial spreadsheet. You just need to fill in the amounts. I understand this may feel like prying - that's not the intention. If there is an emergency and we need to request help then it will be means tested. Having the information up to date and to hand will be essential. 

I can add and adjust these documents as required.

I keep all the documents up to date both digitally and hard copy in the safe and we openly discuss things.