Being added as a signatory to parent's bank account

[londonmummy1966]

DPs have decided it would be a good idea to have me added to their joint account. Their main concern is that DM has Parkinsons and memory loss and that if something happened to DF she might need help and it would be easier to have me on the account already. I'm OK with this.

However I'm trying to work out how to do this. Their bank (Co-op) has forms to switch between joint and sole accounts but not to add an extra signatory. There is however a "Third party mandate". Is this what is needed?

Think very carefully about this, especially if you have siblings.

Most advisers suggest getting Lasting Power of Attorney instead.

I agree - you need to support your parents to apply for LPAs, both for finance and health. Then should the need arise, you can act in their best interests with all service providers they use.

I don't think it's as simple as adding you as a signatory as it changes the status of the account.

Another one saying go down the LPA route and then it's sorted for everything financial

You need to apply for a lasting power of attorney, you can do one for financial affairs and one for medical care. Then the bank will give you the access to the bank account, a solicitor will be able to arrange this for you.

Third party mandate is useful and easy to set up and is well understood by the bank. Lpa is important too but banks etc are notoriously rubbish at recognising them. I'd advise doing both.

Thank you - PoA have been written for years. I don't need to implement them at the moment as both parents are still mentally there - DM just has a bit of short term memory loss and DF is totally on the ball. It's more a belt and braces approach to have me put on the bank account. I have a brother but he's abroad.

If you already have an LPA document you can go into the bank with your parents and the signed document and be added to the bank account. The bank just needs to see they are not being coerced. You don't have to wait until they have a problem as long as they agree to it. Then you can get access to help them. This is what we did with my mum after my Dad died - she is fully with it, but wanted me to help pay bills etc. My brother and I have debit cards etc now. The bank call it representative access

I agree with @peppermum60 You can implement that LPA at the bank with your parents permission. It will make it so much easier.

Also, you don't want to wait until it becomes urgent. Some banks there can be a wait to get an appointment. It is better done now and you can then use it when your parents need you to.

Caveat, I’m not a lawyer, but have recently used a PoA.

I’d check your PoA .. from what I remember, there are 2 types , more here
https://www.gov.uk/find-someones-attorney-deputy-or-guardian

Lasting is the old style and needs to be activated. You can only use the Health one when they no longer have capacity.

Enduring is the new one and can be used at any time with their permission (or obviously once they lose capacity) It doesn’t need to be activated, so if for instance a relative has a fall and loses capacity you can act immediately (hospital can check online) rather than wait for to be activated. I believe you can also specify set responsibility.

Maybe consider updating the PoA which will not only be much quicker in the event of a sudden loss of capacity, but it looks like it could help you with your issue.

Yes a third party mandate would make you a signatory but what you can do on the account is limited. It might be worth checking with their bank what you can do as a third party.

If I remember rightly (used to work in a bank) we couldn’t add third parties or POA to a joint account, if you didn’t have authority from the second account holder.

I definitely think setting up a POA would be better suited.

The financial p.o.a. can be used as soon as its registered if they have ticked the correct box on the form

I have just been added as a 'trusted friend' to my parents' joint account (not coop), I will be able to have a bank card and do online banking for them.

They don't want to activate the LPAs yet (though it would be helpful ...) but do need help with online payments.

Thank you - like @TeenToTwenties DPs don't want to activate the PoA yet - its an EPA but just want a belt and braces approach to someone being able to pay bills in an emergency and the 3rd party mandate would mean I could write a cheque - yes I know who does that apart from my DPs - and make telephone authorised payments.

Oh I'm with you! I am currently paying cleaners weekly from my own account and getting Mum to repay me every couple of months by cheque.

The signing authority on a bank account only stands when the parties concerned have capacity to agree to the authority.

You'll probably need to get them to a branch to verify they give permission to show they aren't being coerced. We had this problem when FIL died and MILs POA was still in progress and it was taking months. Unfortunately MIL was in a care home as she was paralysed and non verbal so we ended up having to wait until it came through.

Get LPOA and manage the account if needed using that. There are choices of if I loose capacity / when ever I say you can … obv choose the latter.

My mother simply gave us her bank card so we could get money out for her. We paid all her bills and then she paid us back in cash. We also registered her for online banking which we used to pay for expensive items. We never involved the bank at all.

I have LPOA but also got added onto my Mum's account, effectively a joint account holder status. For most things, PoA is sufficient but for example with Mum's bank I couldn't use the app with just PoA status. So much easier now with the app on my phone.

As my Mum is a widow, it will also help when she dies as PoA ceases upon death. I have siblings but have put in writing to them that the money in her account is not mine.

I had to go into the bank with my Mum to set it up, but it was very straightforward.

Have your PoA documents been registered with the office of the public guardian? If not , I would do that asap as it can take quite some time I believe and you can't use them without this having been done. You just don't know when you will need them and the last thing you want when it gets to that point is an added delay.

I was an only child and my father left before I was born. I also had lasting power of attorney. When my mum got into a bit of a pickle - she say a bank advert offering £100 to change to them, she did. No one told her she needed to change her pensions going in to the new account. I lived overseas. When I got back to the uk - I live overseas. It took me months to get everything sorted. So I spoke to the bank and said she was capable of daily transaction but I'd like an over view of what was happening. Fortunately they agreed and put me in the account. I then set up online banking to keep an eye on things and it helped me track her by her ATM withdrawals when she went missing. At that point I invoked power of attorney and shortly after she needed to move to a care home.
So yes if you can get oversight of the account it's a good thing.
Having said all that Power of Attorney is the best option and do it as soon as possible.

Thank you - yes the PoA is registered. Based on this thread I've filled out the forms and sent them on to DF for him and DM to sign and then send on to the bank.

My DM had accounts at the Co-op and when she went into a nursing home she switched them to joint accounts with me. Actually it was a lifesaver because she didn't have an LPA and I live abroad - I was able to receive all her bills by email or online, and pay everything online from 2500 miles away.

But it was a long time ago and in the days when the Co-op had real branches that you could go to. I'm afraid I don't remember what the process was, but when we did it the account numbers didn't change.

If you already have the LPA and you are the trustee, then I don't see any harm going for joint accounts now.

Thank you - it should give me the ability to telephone bank for them. I've suggested that they check in with their solicitor as their letter of wishes needs updating and it would be useful for him to be able to confirm that they were both compos mentis and wanted to do this themselves just in case my DB ever kicks up a fuss. He shouldn't do as he has been a signatory on the account they have in the country he lives in (not UK) for sometime now although this is a bigger account.

Please keep scrupulous records as in later years your siblings may want to know the reasons for certain spending and are entitled to know.

You have this the wrong way round EPA is the old type and LPA the current one.