Lasting power of attorney
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Clifford Chambers

Original Poster:

28,973 posts

212 months

Friday 19th March 2021
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I thought we'd set these up when we updated our wills a few yrs ago. Apparently not.

Thinking it'd be a sensible idea I contacted our solicitors, £1200 for a Couple + 380 court fees.

Wtf isn't it just a form to fill in?

mike_e

595 posts

292 months

Friday 19th March 2021
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Very simple and you can easily do these yourself, no need for a solicitor, there's very little information to add. Fill in the forms on-line, print them off and sign (in the correct date order, all the information is provided) and witness where appropriate. Post them off along with £82 per application (Financial and/or Health and Welfare). Job done. Takes quite a few weeks to receive the LPA due to statutory notice periods.

outnumbered

4,871 posts

263 months

Friday 19th March 2021
quotequote all
Seconded. Money for old rope for the solicitor, and absolutely not required unless you're trying to do something complicated.

The online system is really easy to use, and you can try it out without paying anything until you want to actually submit the LPA application.

Clifford Chambers

Original Poster:

28,973 posts

212 months

Friday 19th March 2021
quotequote all
Thank you chaps, as I thought.

Unlikely this particular solicitor will see any future business from us.

kinabalu

242 posts

228 months

Friday 19th March 2021
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Be aware it's a very slow service at the minute.

I posted 2, financial & health for the same person, on 6th Nov 2020, there have been no queries/issues & just been advised to expect them back certified end of March/early April.

tjl

392 posts

201 months

Friday 19th March 2021
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Did both health and finance LPA’s for 85 year old mum last summer when she was fit and well and could clearly explain what instructions she wanted us to follow. Very straightforward to do yourself. Witnessed the whole conversation and form filling with local vicar who has known the family for many years. Good job we did as we’ve had to use them both. Would have been very difficult without.

konark

1,238 posts

148 months

Saturday 20th March 2021
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Delays in processing shouldn't really be a big issue as you are best to get these in place long before you need them.

oblio

5,603 posts

256 months

Saturday 20th March 2021
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We did both forms for each of us last year. It's not difficult to do yourself so I would save yourself quite a bit of dosh and do them yourself.

The advice about getting the forms signed in the correct date order is good advice. I muffed up the dates a little on ours so parts of them had to be re-done but it was easily rectified.

Clifford Chambers

Original Poster:

28,973 posts

212 months

Saturday 20th March 2021
quotequote all
konark said:
Delays in processing shouldn't really be a big issue as you are best to get these in place long before you need them.
Yes you're right, but need to get cracking.

rriggs

675 posts

67 months

Saturday 20th March 2021
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We sent off the forms a few weeks ago for my dad having done them ourselves. It is straight forward and the website guides you through it pretty well

The trickier bit for us was getting the witness/certifier in the same room as my dad as he is currently in respite care and at the time no one was allowed in the home. Got it done in the end though (staff passing paperwork back and forth through a window!)

Would be interested to know how long other people have seen the process take after sending the forms in? We are expecting up to 12 weeks based on the website info. It would be good to know best and worst experiences of this...

tjl

392 posts

201 months

Saturday 20th March 2021
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We did mums in August and I think it was 5 or 6 weeks to get them back. What has been painful in the extreme is for the bank to set us up as signatories - because Covid. Unbelievably tedious

rriggs

675 posts

67 months

Sunday 21st March 2021
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tjl said:
We did mums in August and I think it was 5 or 6 weeks to get them back. What has been painful in the extreme is for the bank to set us up as signatories - because Covid. Unbelievably tedious
That’s much quicker than we are expecting. Hopefully we have the same luck as you

We are not looking forward to dealing with the bank, tax man, etc once we get the PoA...

Mr Tidy

31,395 posts

156 months

Sunday 21st March 2021
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rriggs said:
tjl said:
We did mums in August and I think it was 5 or 6 weeks to get them back. What has been painful in the extreme is for the bank to set us up as signatories - because Covid. Unbelievably tedious
That’s much quicker than we are expecting. Hopefully we have the same luck as you

We are not looking forward to dealing with the bank, tax man, etc once we get the PoA...
My Mum had hers drawn up by solicitors in 2011 and we got them registered with the Publi Guardian shortly after.

What made life much easier was that her bank account was with Barclays where I had an account and her ISA was with Nationwide where I also had an ISA, so they both already had my signature.

Turned out to be one of the best things we ever did as Mum moved into a residential home in 2019, and my sister and I had to sell her flat to pay the fees.

HMRC didn't seem too much of a problem, they just wanted a certified copy of the Financial LPA that they said they would return by Recorded Delivery, but sadly Mum passed away before we got that far and the "yougov - Tell Us Once" service worked really well.

Clifford Chambers

Original Poster:

28,973 posts

212 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
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Thanks chaps.


Took a look and it seems pretty straight forward.