Lasting power of attorney

[Dave3166]

Evening all.
I need to do a LPA for me and my wife.
We are both in good health by the way, so that’s not the issue, just want to do it while we are in a good position to to.
Has anyone used the government website to do one & how simple/difficult is it to do on there.
This is what I’m thinking of doing.
Any replies would help me.
Thanks.
Dave.

[Meeten-5dulx]

Dave3166 said:

Evening all.
I need to do a LPA for me and my wife.
We are both in good health by the way, so that’s not the issue, just want to do it while we are in a good position to to.
Has anyone used the government website to do one & how simple/difficult is it to do on there.
This is what I’m thinking of doing.
Any replies would help me.
Thanks.
Dave.

Easy enough, lots of questions and make sure you don’t make mistakes.
Crack on, a bit of time, common sense and checking is what’s required.

[The Leaper]

I made the mistake of using a local solicitor to do this for wife and I in 2018. I think their fee was about £500. In reality, the size of the form does look daunting but it is quite straightforward to complete. It must be error free.

There is a separate registration fee which was about £160 for the two in 2018.

R.

[djc206]

My mother did it recently. Relatively simple until her friend cocked up the paper forms. Attention to detail required but otherwise not hard and fairly expeditious.

[alscar]

I’ve just done this for my wife and I and also needed to do on behalf of an elderly relative last year.
As others have said forms are probably more daunting than completing them probably is but I chose to do via a third party company.
Cost was £200 plus vat per LPA ( health and property are separate so x4 ) but made it so easy that for me was worth it.
There is currently a 20 week process time involved according to the OPG.
The forms must be 100% completed without error obviously.

[Cliftonite]

The Leaper said:

I made the mistake of using a local solicitor to do this for wife and I in 2018. I think their fee was about £500. In reality, the size of the form does look daunting but it is quite straightforward to complete. It must be error free.

There is a separate registration fee which was about £160 for the two in 2018.

R.

It costs £82 to register each LPA unless you get a reduction or exemption.

[Skyedriver]

In a similar vein, it looks like we are going to need a Grant of Probate for recently deceased MiL.
It can be done at home but to avoid mistakes and to then tie in all the bits and pieces for which it is required then I'm suggesting the FiL goes to the Solicitor.
However he "doesn't see why he should apply for Probate"
85 years old and getting more cantankerous by the day...

[HustleRussell]

My Mum took I think three attempts to get LPA done because of minor errors by witnesses- slight inconsistencies, putting the wrong thing in the wrong box etc etc. Be aware they are super picky. If in doubt, clean sheet.

[seyre1972]

Sensible to have this in place before needed - Don’t forget 2 types - Health & Welfare, and then financial.

If needed and subject not capable - then you’d need an Emergency decision, which is handled by a judge through the Court of Protection

Thankfully had in place for my mum - 2 months later (Vascular dementia) and would have had to gone down the court route.

[Dave3166]

Thanks for the replies everyone, very informative.

Will get some prices from solicitors who deal in his sort of thing then make a decision.

Thanks again.

[Glosphil]

I have completed 6. The 1st using a paper form & the rest on line. All without problems.

The trick is taking care & checking every entry twice. Also check what witnesses write. One of mine spelt her address wrong, so road didn't exist!

[Mabbs9]

Plus when the forms are being signed they must be done in the correct order. Assuming they're done on different dates which is often the case if forwarded to family etc

[Enut]

seyre1972 said:

Sensible to have this in place before needed - Don’t forget 2 types - Health & Welfare, and then financial.

If needed and subject not capable - then you’d need an Emergency decision, which is handled by a judge through the Court of Protection

Thankfully had in place for my mum - 2 months later (Vascular dementia) and would have had to gone down the court route.

A few years ago an old friend of mine attempted to get a POA for his mother who was in a nursing home, he went to see her regularly and arranged for a solicitor to join them one afternoon to go through the paperwork. He explained what was going to happen to mum over lunch and she seemed to be switched on and take it all in, asking if the solicitor was a nice man and agreeing that it would be simpler if Chris, her son, could deal with financial decisions on her behalf.

Anway the solicitor arrived and introduced himself explaining that he was there to get the forms sorted out so that Chris, her son, could deal with things for her, to which she replied 'oh, I don't have a son dear!' Chris looked at the solicitor who simply shrugged his shoulders and said 'sorry, it's too late'. As a result, until his mum died some years later, Chris had to deal with everything through the Court of Protection and he found them an absolute nightmare to deal with.

The moral of the story os get the POAs arranged while you can, don't leave it too late.

[98elise]

Enut said:

seyre1972 said:

Sensible to have this in place before needed - Don’t forget 2 types - Health & Welfare, and then financial.

If needed and subject not capable - then you’d need an Emergency decision, which is handled by a judge through the Court of Protection

Thankfully had in place for my mum - 2 months later (Vascular dementia) and would have had to gone down the court route.

A few years ago an old friend of mine attempted to get a POA for his mother who was in a nursing home, he went to see her regularly and arranged for a solicitor to join them one afternoon to go through the paperwork. He explained what was going to happen to mum over lunch and she seemed to be switched on and take it all in, asking if the solicitor was a nice man and agreeing that it would be simpler if Chris, her son, could deal with financial decisions on her behalf.

Anway the solicitor arrived and introduced himself explaining that he was there to get the forms sorted out so that Chris, her son, could deal with things for her, to which she replied 'oh, I don't have a son dear!' Chris looked at the solicitor who simply shrugged his shoulders and said 'sorry, it's too late'. As a result, until his mum died some years later, Chris had to deal with everything through the Court of Protection and he found them an absolute nightmare to deal with.

The moral of the story os get the POAs arranged while you can, don't leave it too late.

This. My Mother in Law was in a home (Dementia), then the Father in Law died. That left us trying to sort everything out with no rights.

[OldSkoolRS]

Mabbs9 said:

Plus when the forms are being signed they must be done in the correct order. Assuming they're done on different dates which is often the case if forwarded to family etc

I remember that part: I did my Dad's LPOA for both health and finance, managing to fill the forms in the right way, nearly had some issues about the order of signing (can't remember the details now though). I'm not one for filling forms in, but I managed it OK at the first attempt. It was well worth it as not long after he went into a care home and I had to sell his house. Then deal with his finances to make sure his care home was paid for and all his various direct debits stopped once the house sold.

At the end of his life it fell to me to make decisions on his health: Filling the form in and getting LPOA was one thing, even approving his various Covid jabs and boosters was fine, but the decisions at the end were harder: In hindsight some conversations about resuscitation and treatment would have left me better prepared, so think about that as well once you sort it out.

[21ATS]

I set up a LPOA with my partner about 3 years ago (she's 49 has MS and now has a form of dementia) it was triggered earlier this year.

I paid a Solicitor to set it up, we both attended as I was keen to make sure it was seen to be all above board. Cost was £600.

I wondered if I should simply have done it myself online, however the advice I've had from the solicitor since it was triggered (all included in the initial fee) has stopped me making some very expensive mistakes and I would suggest getting proper legal advice based purely on my own experience.

The thing with a financial LPOA is it's really designed for when the person in question has lost all capacity whatsoever. In my case I have a partner who has lost the ability to make complex decisions but some of the time is lucid. The LPOA in this situation actually seems like overkill, but it's a one size fits all solution when in reality there should be "degrees" based on what capacity actually exists - that's another conversation though.

I own a Limited company of which my partner was a director. The tax implications of triggering the LPOA have been an eyeopener and frankly, expensive.

Saving a few hundred punds at the outset may seem like good economy, I'm certainly glad I paid for a solicitor, the advice I've had since has been worth more than the fee paid.