Power of Attorney

[Martynt74]

Not sure if anyone here will be knowledgeable on this this topic and i'm not after any specific advice as to whether it's worth doing or not.

My parents setup a will and POA around a year ago, and the advice they were given was that to save spending money needlessly, they shouldn't register the POA documents as there's a fee involved. However since the forms are complete and signed. Should their mental state deteriorate, then we can then apply for POA using the pre-dated forms.

My mother in law has just had a similar conversation, and i brought up the above point and his response was that they're worthless unless filed, and that due to processing times (around 6 months), if filed after the mental ability deteriorated then they wouldn't be granted anyway and was therefore a waste.

Wondering if anyone else knows the specifics here, obviously the above is 2 professionals each with their own advice and it's difficult to know who to believe!

 

[eddie101]

I was granted POA around 18 months ago and we opted for option 2. Basically do all the paperwork and get it processed sooner rather than later as like you said should their mental capacity deteriorate then it may not be successful. Took circa 3-4 months to go through the system and was a few hundred for each one (although we got the money back for my Dad's as he passed before it could be granted)

 

[rhysduck]

To my knowledge from when I was granted POA over my late Great Uncle, unless filed it's worthless.

For the sake of a few hundred quid it's hardly worth the risk of having it not granted should you actually need to file for POA further down the line.

Just get it done and dusted now is my advice.

 

[booyaka]

It's different between Scotland and England so can't be sure about England (as my knowledge and recent use of POA's is all scottish based)

It needs to be registered in Scotland with the Office of the Public Guardian

When does a power of attorney come into force?

When you say. There are three main scenarios:

1. Non-continuing power of attorney. This comes into immediate effect unless the document states otherwise.

2. Continuing power of attorney. This comes into effect when "triggered" and after having been registered with the Office Of The Public Guardian. For instance, you may indicate in the document that it is only to be triggered when you are no longer capable of dealing with your own affairs. Alternatively, you may wish it to come into effect straight away in which case you will say so in the document.

3. Welfare Power of attorney. These, by law, can only be triggered once you become incapable. One of the requirements of the law is that before signing a power of attorney, you must consider the method by which your incapacity is to be determined. For instance, you may think that if two doctors say that you are incapable, that will be sufficient and this may well be something you want to discuss with your attorney, beforehand.

So my Dad did POA's for him and my mum a number of years ago, registered them for a small fee, but they weren't activated until about 2 years ago when my mum deteriorated with dementia to the point where she was unable to function mentally.

Long story short - they need to be registered but they can contain a "springing clause" which is basically - nothing happens until they are required.

Like I say - this is Scotland - I'm unsure exactly about English situation as it's a little different from memory.