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

She can't just contest it, her mother may have made a choice to appoint her son. Theres non legal requirements for either of them to inform her, and anyway, she has been informed, she was given a copy. She needs to talk to her mother first.

A friend of the brother, who knows the mother, could have witnessed it. It doesn't ensure that the mother actively wanted the POA and fully understood what she was signing.

See @Whatsgoingonherethenagain's post, for example.

Then the OP can look at the form and see who witnessed it. If she believes fraud has been committed then there are processes can be followed. But there's no indication that this has happened, so I repeat, she needs to talk to her mother.

Contest it. There’s a people to notify section, you should have been informed. Who did he get as his witness?

He could have filled in the finance PoA forms himself (no need to involve a solicitor) and put them in front of his mother for signing, with some encouraging words.

But someone else who knows the mother (but is not a relative) has to sign separately to say she is of sound mind and is acting of her own free will.

Power of attorney may work differently here in the US than it does there, but being the health care power of attorney doesn't mean you have to do any actual caring. You just make the decisions. So if the mother needed care the OP could presumably decide to put her in a nursing facility or hire a carer. It doesn't mean you have to actually do the care yourself.

No one can appoint themselves PoA - your mum will have had to sign agreeing who she wanted as PoA.

And no-one can appoint someone else as PoA - OP would have had to sign the application and have her signature witnessed. If she didn't want to do it, she could have said so, and not signed.

Sorry, office of the public guardian. I should know this having been involved in three POAs recently.

POA doesn’t have to involve solicitors.

it can be printed off the internet and done at home.

that’s how Dh’s sibling did it without his parent understanding- gave them a load of documents and got them signed with a friend as witness.

Just to correct the above post, it's the Office if the Public Guardian. And yes, if your mum wasn't capable of making her own decision, then you need to report your brother's actions. But since you presumably agreed and signed, you're also responsible if that's the case.

It is not the OPs choice , or her brothers choice, about being made POA, it is their mothers choice who she appoints, and she needs to have the mental capacity to do this. And all POA documents have to be witnessed, signed by the person they are for, the “attorney” and an independent witness, otherwise they are not legal or valid.

He could have filled in the finance PoA forms himself (no need to involve a solicitor) and put them in front of his mother for signing, with some encouraging words. I expect this happens a lot. So OP should contact the Office of the Public Guardian to report any concerns.

OP would have had to be present when the POA was signed by the person it applies to.

if you have any doubts about the POAs legality OP then contact the Office of the Legal Guardian.

No one can appoint themselves PoA - your mum will have had to sign agreeing who she wanted as PoA.

Sorry, but you really don't understand how POAs work or the responsibilities for them. He cannot have assigned himself POA over your mother. Only your mother can do that, and any solicitor will have ensured that she was capable of making such a decision when she signed it. You need to discuss these things with her and with your brother.

Quite.
I'm in the middle of sorting mine and my parents did theirs years ago. No one gets to have POA without realising it, no one can be forced to have POA, neither can anyone object if they don't like who the person making the POA chooses to have as an attorney.

I suspect this op has got the wrong end of the stick on pretty much every issues involved here

Being POA for health and welfare is nothing to do with having caring responsibilities. It's about speaking on her behalf when she can't make her own decisions about her health and welfare.

In all fifteen years that my mum needed care, I only used my POA when we needed to change my Mum's GP surgery.

Who has POA and for what is/was your mother's decision. The attorneys don't choose themselves.

So the person you need to ask to explain the decision is your mother, not your brother. She had to have had capacity to choose attorneys. It can't be done once someone has lost capacity. So I'm not sure why you're blaming your brother.

I don't know why he thinks brother in law should have control of his money seems mad.

Perhaps he thinks his BIL will do a better job of it. Up to him who he appoints as his POA.

My aunt did this made my brother POA over finances, me over health. I was irritated but it actually worked out really well because we get on well and therefore told each other what was happening. He dealt with dozens of different finance things from unwanted warranties to lost investments etc. I dealt with hospitals, carers and eventually found a care home. He would have done more if I'd asked and vice versa. I think in terms of time there is more to do on finance but obviously more responsibility and bigger decisions on health.

But the potential for it to go wrong is massive. I did have to trust him on what he was doing with her finances he could have milked her dry and I wouldn't have known.

Yours sounds very difficult. I don't know why he thinks brother in law should have control of his money seems mad.

I don't understand your issues. Your brother doesn't appoint anyone to be POA for your mother, she will have had to choose. Health POA doesn't mean you have to do any caring. Nor does POA over finances mean he gets all the money.

And as for who your brother chooses to be his own POA... You don't get a say in that at all. You can decline to become one yourself but why your choice as to who should be his POA have any weight whatsoever is baffling. You say "non family member" but this person is indeed your brother's family. He clearly trusts this person to make important decisions on his behalf and I don't see why that's a problem. You don't have to accept sharing the responsibility, feel free to decline and then your brother's BIL will have sole responsibility.

I am the financial POA for my mum and my grandma. My brother, my mum and my uncle are not.

Did your Mum have capacity to make decisions when he did the LPA.

If not, please report to the office for the public guardian and Adult social services.

This is all very odd.

PoAs of either sort can only be set up while the person they are for has full capacity
They also have to be signed with witnesses
You can't just be sent it to sign

Talk to your mum. What does she want? If she doesn’t have capacity to decide, it can’t happen.