Power of attorney

thingswerentthisbadinmyday

dnpark38 said:

@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. 

PLA = POA?

I’ve registered Mum’s POA with both Nationwide and Lloyds using just the on-line code (accessed through my Government Gateway account).
Currently waiting for Santander to confirm all is OK with them, too, after registering another code last week.
Codes issued via the Gateway are valid for up to 30 days and are recipient specific.

Jack's_mum

Though the forms look straightforward in most respects, using a legal professional seems appropriate to me as not everyone necessarily has access to an appropriate "certificate provider" who "has known the donor personally for at least 2 years, such as a friend, neighbour, colleague or former colleague", especially if you prefer to keep these matters private. Although a GP is mentioned as a possible certificate provider, I understand this is often not something they will do now. The estimate you mention seems relatively high and you should probably seek a second one for comparison but, as mentioned already above, using a solicitor means that it will be done correctly.

queline

Jack's_mum said:

Though the forms look straightforward in most respects, using a legal professional seems appropriate to me as not everyone necessarily has access to an appropriate "certificate provider" who "has known the donor personally for at least 2 years, such as a friend, neighbour, colleague or former colleague", especially if you prefer to keep these matters private. Although a GP is mentioned as a possible certificate provider, I understand this is often not something they will do now. The estimate you mention seems relatively high and you should probably seek a second one for comparison but, as mentioned already above, using a solicitor means that it will be done correctly.

I thoroughly agree with this - why risk not having everything necessary in place because you have done it on the cheap?  GPs, if they do it, will probably charge a nice fat fee for the privilege and personally, I would not have the cheek to ask my GP and waste their precious time when you can't even get an appointment to see them these days (don't get me started on that one....) 
We have ours ready for when they are needed and if you need certified copies I think the solicitor helps with that although I would have to check, but am curious to know how you would get a certified copy if you have done it yourself online?  I am sure someone will enlighten me on that one. 

Albermarle

I thoroughly agree with this - why risk not having everything necessary in place because you have done it on the cheap? 

It is not on the cheap. You pay the official fee for each one, the same as you do if you employ a solicitor.
It just seems a waste to pay a professional to fill in a few forms for you, and you do not utilise any of their professional expertise.
As said before it is different for a will, as some professional expertise is usually necessary to draw it up correctly.

but am curious to know how you would get a certified copy if you have done it yourself online? 

The application process is on line, but at the end you need to print off the forms for signature.
Then you post them off and then some weeks later you get the certified PoAs back in the post.

dnpark38

My local Finance dept. of local Council have asked me to provide I hold a PLA in the form of a copy, anyone done this and how?
Will the front bit do or will they want all the pages?

queline

Albermarle said:

I thoroughly agree with this - why risk not having everything necessary in place because you have done it on the cheap? 

It is not on the cheap. You pay the official fee for each one, the same as you do if you employ a solicitor.
It just seems a waste to pay a professional to fill in a few forms for you, and you do not utilise any of their professional expertise.
As said before it is different for a will, as some professional expertise is usually necessary to draw it up correctly.

but am curious to know how you would get a certified copy if you have done it yourself online? 

The application process is on line, but at the end you need to print off the forms for signature.
Then you post them off and then some weeks later you get the certified PoAs back in the post.

Our solicitor did not just 'fill in a few forms'.  She was very informative as to the ins and outs of every aspect of the forms, and explained everything to us very thoroughly, so we could make informed choices as to what to put on our forms.  She also chased when we had only received back one of our LPAs, without us having to ask.  She explained to our children (our attorneys) what an LPA is all about and witnessed their signatures.  She explained what would happen if you needed to use the LPAs before they were registered as it usually takes some time for them to do so.  So I believe that she did use her 'professional experience'  as you put it.  As I said before it was money well spent for us.  But everyone's personal choice if they want this valuable advice or feel comfortable doing it themselves, of course. 

I think you have misunderstood what I was asking about the certified copies.  I fully understand that the forms are sent to the OPG for registering, and that they are returned when registered by them.  What I meant was if you need to obtain certified copies to provide to an institution who has requested one, as dnpark38 has said they have been asked for, as you cannot just photocopy your LPA document, it has to be certified as a copy of the original.  There are some institutions who will not just accept looking it up online with the code as proved by dnpark38's post. 

queline

queline said:

Albermarle said:

The application process is on line, but at the end you need to print off the forms for signature.
Then you post them off and then some weeks later you get the certified PoAs back in the post.

They are no longer POAs, they are Lasting Power of Attorneys. 

RacingDriver

queline said:

I think you have misunderstood what I was asking about the certified copies.  I fully understand that the forms are sent to the OPG for registering, and that they are returned when registered by them.  What I meant was if you need to obtain certified copies to provide to an institution who has requested one, as dnpark38 has said they have been asked for, as you cannot just photocopy your LPA document, it has to be certified as a copy of the original.  There are some institutions who will not just accept looking it up online with the code as proved by dnpark38's post. 

The donor can certify their own copies if they still have capacity (so certified copies could be made in advance): https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/certify

Albermarle

queline said:

Albermarle said:

I thoroughly agree with this - why risk not having everything necessary in place because you have done it on the cheap? 

It is not on the cheap. You pay the official fee for each one, the same as you do if you employ a solicitor.
It just seems a waste to pay a professional to fill in a few forms for you, and you do not utilise any of their professional expertise.
As said before it is different for a will, as some professional expertise is usually necessary to draw it up correctly.

but am curious to know how you would get a certified copy if you have done it yourself online? 

The application process is on line, but at the end you need to print off the forms for signature.
Then you post them off and then some weeks later you get the certified PoAs back in the post.

Our solicitor did not just 'fill in a few forms'.  She was very informative as to the ins and outs of every aspect of the forms, and explained everything to us very thoroughly, so we could make informed choices as to what to put on our forms.  She also chased when we had only received back one of our LPAs, without us having to ask.  She explained to our children (our attorneys) what an LPA is all about and witnessed their signatures.  She explained what would happen if you needed to use the LPAs before they were registered as it usually takes some time for them to do so.  So I believe that she did use her 'professional experience'  as you put it.  As I said before it was money well spent for us.  But everyone's personal choice if they want this valuable advice or feel comfortable doing it themselves, of course. 

I think you have misunderstood what I was asking about the certified copies.  I fully understand that the forms are sent to the OPG for registering, and that they are returned when registered by them.  What I meant was if you need to obtain certified copies to provide to an institution who has requested one, as dnpark38 has said they have been asked for, as you cannot just photocopy your LPA document, it has to be certified as a copy of the original.  There are some institutions who will not just accept looking it up online with the code as proved by dnpark38's post. 

AFAIK, once you get the originals back, it does not matter if you did them DIY or not,
The process is then the same going forward for  getting certified copies.

Somebody

Instead of showing a certified copy or original registered LPA, you may be able to share an online summary of the LPA:

https://www.gov.uk/manage-lasting-power-attorney/proving-your-lasting-power-of-attorney