Power of attorney

redpete

Yorkie1 said:

If doing it online, an important thing to be aware of is the need for signatures to be done in a particular order.

The dates for the signatures on the form need to be in the specified order.

The process is really quite simple and guidance on the forms and the Gov website are clear. Any complication might come if you have specific preferences or instructions; in our case we selected attorneys who know us well enough to 'do the right thing' so added no extra info. If you do have specific requirements it might be worth paying a professional but for the simple cases there is no need to pay £00s for something you can do yourself.

AllNightDiner

Another one for doing it yourself using the government website. We did it and it was an easy admin task. Wish my parents in law (approaching 90) would stop being so stubborn and do the same: would make life much easier for us all.

katejo

AllNightDiner said:

Another one for doing it yourself using the government website. We did it and it was an easy admin task. Wish my parents in law (approaching 90) would stop being so stubborn and do the same: would make life much easier for us all.

I have recently done mine. I tried to persuade my brother to do one and suggested he watch the Martin Lewis show which focuses on this. He put his fingers in his ears and refused to listen. 

cmayflower

I've just done both of mine on live through the government website, they were simple to do, you can save info as you go.  I applied for the reduced rate as i do not earn other than savings and that all went through easily.

bolwin1

Yorkie1 said:

If doing it online, an important thing to be aware of is the need for signatures to be done in a particular order.

The easiest way around this to get the dates to all match.

MallyGirl

Fine if all witnesses are in the same town but if you are posting a stack of paper around then that might flag as an issue

indiasign

I did one for my Aunt, lined everyone up on the same day to sign it, and used colour coded posts for who was to sign and where 😀

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

I’ve completed 4 POAs on-line now; one each for myself & wife and one each for mother and step father. We included few restrictions so as to give the Attorney(s) as much flexibility as possible. That said, if there had been complex finances or investment portfolios involved, I may or may not have considered external help.
Although the process can seem a little daunting at first, you soon get the hang of what’s required but I would commend reading the explanatory notes! £90 or so each POS.
Currently, my mother’s POA is ‘active’ and it’s been an absolute blessing. Without it, we’d be in a right pickle now.
Also, I’ve been very impressed by the system for registering the POA with financial institutions. The system actually seems to be ‘joined up’ and apart from one bank (which i won’t name), all have accepted registration without the need to see the actual document (on-line codes are involved).

UncleTomCobley

Nebulous2 said:

I'm sure all this discussion is about England and Wales, but it is important to note that Scotland is different for POA and it is more difficult (not impossible) to do it yourself. 

There are more details on this here https://www.publicguardian-scotland.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/power-of-attorney/who-can-make-a-poa. 

Indeed it can be a DIY exercise though a solicitor, advocate or doctor has to confirm that, in effect, you are capable of agreeing to a Power of Attorney arrangement.

dnpark38

@thingsarenotwhattheyusedtobe
As PLA holder I wished to do a transaction on a Nationwide Account, the task was carried out but I suggested the PLA be recorded on the account they said they would have to send it off, photo copy, and it would take 10 weeks.
As the task of that day had been done I've not yet had the PLA recording done.
Might be yours was NW and the cause being they are a mutual building society doing banking.