AIBU my brother is arranging Power of Attorneys that offend me?

Absolutely. My brother and I shared the role for both areas. Otherwise if anything happened to one of us, the other would be left in the shit. Only having one attorney is a bad idea.
Likewise my daughter's share the responsibility for both areas, as my attorneys.

This.

Firstly your mum's PoA is completely separate to your brother's. If you don't want to have your brother's health PoA don't do it. On your own head be it though, because it sounds like you will be next of kin anyway. Having the PoA should just smooth your way if you need to make NoK decisions.

Re your mum's PoA, these are her decisions not your brother's, and your brother didn't "give you" PoA on health. You and your mum signed the paperwork to take it on. Talk to your mum if you are unhappy. It's not a bad idea for you both to share both PoAs in case something happens to either of you. I would approach it from that angle rather than moaning at him for disrespecting you though.

This^

But you can decline whatever you like. I really couldn't be arsed about having PoA - it's just a hassle, but sometimes there are no other options. So say no and move on. BTW, whilst you may not know his wife's brother, he definitely is "family" and not a stranger to your brother.

Can't entirely understand why you are taking all this so personally.

And if she didn't have capacity at the time the POAs were taken out, then he has acted illegally, as has anyone else (e.g. solicitor) involved. This is why it's really important to get these things sorted a long time before they are needed. They must be at the instigation of the person whose finances/health is involved. Legally, it's too late once the person is no longer able to handle such things on their own.

If I remember correctly there is a bit In the guidance for the witness that says that they believe that the person understands what the POA entails and are signing with that in mind

The witness can be anyone, just as long as they are not related to the person the POA is drawn up for. No where on the form does it ask for witness qualifications, only name and address.

Either OPs brother had committed some sort of major fraud or she just went along with it and is now complaining, perhaps because the bil situation has come up and she’s realised it’s one thing to be bulldozed for your own mother it’s another for some one who is basically a complete stranger.

grow a backbone OP

My brother and I are the only two siblings, late 40s/early 50s. About five years ago he unilaterally arranged, without consultation with me, two Power of Attorneys (PoA) for our elderly mother. He appointed himself PoA over her finances and me over her health.

I struggle to see how this happened? We have recently sorted LPA for my parents and the attorney has to sign the paperwork. I’m in the UK though so perhaps different if you’re elsewhere. But if you’re in the UK, how has your DB made you an attorney on a LPA without your knowledge?

Second point, it isn’t for you to decide who other people have as their attorney on a LPA. It is for the individual - simply you can decline to be an attorney. So your options on your brothers health are to have some say, or no say, in what happens. It’s controlling to think you’d be entitled to have 100% control in any scenario.

This...and if you feel your mum didn't understand what she was signing then there is a process of complaint....I think through the Office of the Public Guardian, but do check their website.

It doesn’t need a professional but DOES need an impartial person to sign to say the person making it understands what they’re agreeing to. That can’t be one of the attorneys nor a close relative and must be someone who’s known them a while,such as a neighbour.

As others have said, your mother must have agreed to all this. Where were you when your mother and brother were discussing/agreeing it? You must have signed yourself to previously agree to be attorney for health. You must have been notified that your brother was attorney for finances. All that’s done and dusted and you’ve missed your chance to object if you didn’t take notice/object at the time.

Re your brothers poa, you can just say no. No one can force you to sign to agree.

It sounds like there is a lack of communication between you and your brother and between you and your mother.

Yeah in that case just leave it as it is – there’s only something to challenge if it’s OP’s brother who has instigated this, as OP suspects

Refuse.
He sounds like an arse.

What if OP’s DM doesn’t want that? It’s not for OP to insist.

You need to object to the setup with your DM OP and get responsibility shared equally across both areas, immediately.

It does not have to be a professional. Or anyone capable of making an assessment of capacity.

in laws POA was done from the internet forms. Signed by the donor, the PoA, witnessed by a friend of the PoA, so not impartial.

i have a copy. No professional signature anywhere. No one signed to say they had checked the donor understood what they were signing.

Your DB's BIL is definitely a family member whatever you think of the arrangements

I don’t think many people realise the new LPA can be registered at any point. You do not have to lose capacity.

in our experience you can simply lodge it with the bank, and you will be given full access, online banking, bank cards etc. they do not check that the account holder has consented or if they are competent.

easily done.

the ole EPA you had to be assessed as lacking capacity before it could be implemented, and I think many people still believe that.

Some people on here need to realise that you do not have to have a solicitor to set up POA.

All the forms are available to download on the gov.uk website and can be completed at no cost and no necessity to involve solicitors at all. That is how I'm doing mine. All you then pay is the fee to lodge them.

Even if it was a DIY PoA, it still requires an impartial person to have certified that the individual understands what they are agreeing to and have capacity. This person must be a professional (gp/solicitor/ social worker) or someone who has known the person granting PoA for 2 years, but cannot be one of the appointees, a relative (directly or by marriage) of the person granting the PoA nor the representative.

of course, the impartial person could lie. It’s not a foolproof system. If OP feels her mother has been coerced into signing a PoA, or signed one when she lacks capacity to do so, she can raise an adult protection concern with social work who can assess the situation.

I might be being very cynical here but I agree with some PPs that there are plenty of PoAs signed into existence without the subject having fully understood what was happening/the consequences.

She almost certainly has done her PoA via a solicitor, who would have to at least discussed it with your mother, and the solicitor would have to have been satisfied that she had capacity to make decisions for herself*

Why "almost certainly"?

I think you are being unreasonable re your brothers POA- he is absolutely entitled to appoint whoever he trusts. You don’t know his brother in law but your bother does- and he obviously likes him and trusts him to act in his best interests. Whether you know the other PoA is utterly irrelevant when it comes to your brothers choices- because it’s not up to you to decide who he chooses. I think you are wrong to be offended regarding his choices, but ultimately it is up to you and you can chose to decline to act as his PoA if you wish. I think your reasons for doing so would be churlish, but you are under no obligation to agree.

with regards to your mother- she must have agreed to any PoA appointed- your brother could not have done so without her consent- he may have been the instigator of the PoA’s being set up and suggested who was appointed as what, of course. However, the fact remains that your mother must have consented to whatever was in the PoA agreement. She almost certainly has done her PoA via a solicitor, who would have to at least discussed it with your mother, and the solicitor would have to have been satisfied that she had capacity to make decisions for herself. If the solicitor had any doubt, or sometimes if there is a pre-existing diagnosis of cognitive impairment/dementia (you can retain capacity despite this), her solicitor would have sought a medical opinion before proceeding. If she lacked capacity, no PoA agreement could have been lodged and a guardianship order would have to be sought instead.

As regards your role- you can be named as PoA in the paperwork but if you don’t sign the agreement, it cannot be completed and will not be able to be lodged with the office of the public guardian. So, if there of an agreement in place which you did not sign agreeing to the role set out then it is not a valid PoA. If it is signed, but not by you, you need to clarify what is going on. If you signed an agreement sent to you, naming you as a welfare attorney, then you agreed to it. If you weren’t sure what you were signing/did not agree, then you shouldn’t have signed. You can go back and withdraw your agreement and a new person can be appointed by your mother.

apparently they only witness.

a lay person cannot make the judgement on whether someone is “of sound mind”.

it’s also almost impossible to assess whether someone is acting of “their own free will”. Coercive control is a thing- my in law would do anything their child told her to because she was scared of the fall out if she said no.

so my understanding is any witness can’t be held accountable if the application is fraudulent.

abuse, especially elder abuse and coercive control can be extremely hard to see.

That seems very odd.

I was POA for both my parents. While it was being organised, Dad asked "What happens if something happens to Weary? We don't want to be left in the shit..."

Ergo, we were asked who could be appointed as back-up "whom failing". Dad suggested my cousin. (She was already POA for one of our aunts.) She agreed and that's what happened.