Tips on organising Power of Attorney - England

[PaperbackWrighter]

My DM aged 84 has asked me whether I would be organise Health & welfare and Property & financial affairs LPAs for her, and act as her sole attorney. (Younger DS is very bad with money, and is fine with me being sole attorney). I've registered for them online and filled in as much as I'm able. Wondering if others have done this, and whether their relative chose people to be notified about the LPA? I don't have the name of mu DM's certificate provider yet, so can't add that part atm. Once I add that is it pretty straightforward?

Also wondering if it's a good idea to have a replacement attorney if only one attorney. Have others done this? I guess you can always amend it at a later stage if anything drastic happened with your own health?

@PaperbackWrighter One of my siblings and I are jointly on our parents LPoA for health and finance. Other sibling is fine with this and very supportive. TBH I am now a few years down the line of having organised them and am regretting being involved. It feels like it should be straightforward and I am sure once we really need to invoke them it will. As things are DF is in nursing care so that is fine. Our incredibly difficult mother has full capacity but is just impossible to help. I think my Sis and I hoped we could use the LPA to encourage her to do things such as have a cleaner/carer, but she refuses and just expects us to drop everything and do the cleaning, shopping etc. We all think she should be in some kind of assisted living facility but she won’t entertain any move, help etc. She just ‘thought my children would rally’. What I suppose I am saying is if you have a good relationship it is straightforward enough. If you don’t then think about the situation. Not sure if that helps.

@PaperbackWrighter Also wondering if it's a good idea to have a replacement attorney if only one attorney. Have others done this? I guess you can always amend it at a later stage if anything drastic happened with your own health?

I am the attorney for a relative. We had the papers drawn up by the solicitor.

We did specify replacement attorneys - we thought it was a good idea because at the time something happens, you don't know what the circumstances may be.

The solicitor is replacement attorney for finance and their sibling is replacement attorney for health.

Hope this helps.

Yes, good idea to have replacement attorney. Once she’s lost capacity, she wouldn’t be able to choose another attorney if anything happened to you. You can’t amend the LPA, the donor can revoke it and pay to register a new LPA, but obviously only while she still has capacity. The LPA automatically ceases if the sole attorney is no longer able to act.

I don’t really understand the provision to tell someone if the LPA is registered. I think it’s a hangover from the old Enduring Power of Attorney, which wasn’t registered until the person lost capacity. So clearly telling a third party that an application was made for registration was a safeguard. But now you can, and most people do, register the LPA immediately, while the donor still has capacity, I don’t understand the advantage of getting someone to be notified. I haven’t done it for mine.

Thank you all @BlueLegume @MereDintofPandiculation and we meet again with more v helpful info from you@ShrubRose - thank you!

I'm definitely making my DS the replacement, and will ignore the notification of the LPA - ran both decisions past my DM and she agreed. Looks like I can do it online on gov.uk and print out.