Registering Power of attorney

[Earlybird00]

We arranged power of attorney for my parents in January with no restriction made. I believed that would mean I could act on their behalf without them having to be registered as incapacitated. There have been many challenges with the banks since then and still have been unable to set up online banking on their behalf. Can you advise how you actually register a POA and anything else I should be thinking about with regards finances. I live far away so need to have the online banking to be of any help. Thanks

Do you mean lasting power of attorney? Are they registered with the office of the public guardian (they'll have stamps on every page if so)?

It is enduring power of attorney in Northern Ireland. The solicitor said it would go directly to the High Court to be registered but banks say its not. The solicitor holds the original document

I am not sure if NI is different to England. But once I had a certified copy, I either went into organisations with the copy and I'd, where they took copies. In most places I had to fill out one of their forms too.
Other organisations, I sent the copy with my id. Sometimes they had online forms, others a covering letter was enough
I did have one building society come back asking for proof of incapacity, which I responded to, essentially, telling them it's none of their business why the POA, was being registered, as that is the only legal document needed. They then registered it.

I think if the POA has been drawn up more recently, it is supposed to be available online, with a code, for banks etc. to be able to view

It works differently from the way an LPA works in England -- the process for registering an EPA in Northern Ireland is described here.

I would contact the solicitor, if you are having problems.

Google "using a power of attorney" and you will get a link to the government website. You can then ask for a unique code to give the bank which means they can access the necessary information on line so you don't have to send them the actual paper copy. If you google the name of the bank + power of attorney you might find a dedicated phone line.