Accessing parents finances

[strawberry12345]

Hi my parents are in their 80s and very frail. I’m concerned that as they get older we should put in place access to funds to pay for things they need eg carers. I am wondering if I should be added as an additional account holder on their bank account?

All their savings are in ISAs, I don’t see how I could be added as it is linked to them tax wise?

we have LPA but they have capacity. I’ve not raised this with them but I think they would like this as it would give them peace of mind.

any experience much appreciated

Just get the LPA enacted and you have control.

Getting added as a joint account holder could cause a World of pain for other reasons, i.e. as you say you can't have a joint ISA, and interest etc would be taxable on you (your share), and potential issues with future benefits and IHT.

LPAs are there for exactly this reason, i.e. for the LPA appointee to take control.

As you have LPA you can be set up to have access to their bank account online and get a debit card on their account as representative - I deal with all my mums finances now as although she has capacity she is housebound visually impaired and cannot manage to deal with it herself.

If you have the finance LPA, you can invoke this while they still have capacity with their agreement. It would be a matter of contacting the banks and providing them with a copy of the LPA

The financial LPA can be activated whilst they still have capacity, with their consent (the health one requires them to have lost capacity). You can then have access to their bank accounts, you’ll need to contact their bank to find out how to do this. It’ll still be their account, so there shouldn’t be any tax implications for you, you’re just operating it on their behalf.

As others have said, get their permission to have LPA enacted now. You don’t need to take full control but at least you’ve got an overview of everything and know how to access funds if they’re needed.

I have LPA for my dad and although it’s not enacted at the moment, he’s also given me a list of all his passcodes and accounts etc. I’ve never looked but should I need to get LPA enacted quickly, I’ve got everything I need to gain access.

Brilliant, thank you. If I get LPA enacted can they still make all their day to day transactions and I just have access as back up in case they can’t?

Yes, my Dad has capacity but LPA enacted, he just spends his money but I call insurance companies, utilities on his behalf

Do I have to do anything to enact the LPA (the finance one)

Yes, for as long as they retain mental capacity they can continue using their account exactly as before - but you'll be able to assist as and when needed.

You need to register the LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian if not already registered (which it may well be).

This takes about 8 weeks.

Then follow the instructions of the bank or building society to notify them of the LPA, there will be information on their website detailing the hoops they want you to jump through.

I have been added as 'trusted friend' to my parents' bank account. It means I can pay bills online get shopping and withdraw cash etc with my own card. We do have LPAs in place too for when needed.

The OPG have a good helpline too :-)

Thank you so much

If it's a lasting power of attorney (rather than the older Enduring Power of attorney that it replaced) then you don't need to do anything, you can use it as soon as it was issued. If it was issued relatively recently then you should have been given a code to set up an online account which you can use to generate further codes for individual institutions that you can share with them to give them sight of the LPA electronically rather than have to show them the physical documents, although in my experience not all places are geared up for this.
Try to find out if the bank has a specific team dealing with LPAs - I know Lloyds do, and they were very helpful in getting things set up for me.

My brother and I paid mums bills etc simply by her giving us the log in details to her current account, and her card details. We both had LPA and nothing needed enacting. She had capacity but was paralysed so unable to carry out her own transactions.

This may be a stupid question, but I've never quite understood this. I've got LPA for my parents, which I don't yet use but may have to in the near future. Re the advice that you just have to register it online and then you can start using it: how does the bank know that your parents have either a) lost capacity or b) given you permission to act for them? Is there another step you need to take, to prove one of these things is true?

The institution will assume that as the LPA has been granted you have permission to act on behalf of the named person. We set up a financial LPA for my dad recently and I’ve registered it with his bank, I had to go into a branch and answer a few questions then they took a copy of the LPA and sent it away to be registered.

My dad mostly has capacity right now but lives 200-odd miles from me so this just means I can access his accounts online and keep an eye on things.

Apart from it being against the bank's T&Cs to use someone else's login credentials and bank cards (even with their permission), you'll have problems when it comes to the bank (or other organisation) wanting to speak in person, i.e. on the phone or across the counter etc., in case of wanting authorisation for a transaction, or to report a lost/stolen card, etc.

Yes, I think they took it on trust that my parents had consented, which when you think about it doesn't seem right. I guess that since they trusted me enough to appoint me as their attorney in the first place, that's enough?

There is a process for a person to complain that an attorney isn't acting correctly.🤷 Are there any legally minded people here who know more?

The process of getting an LPA means that an independent person has verified that the donor (think that’s the term?) has the capacity to grant permission for an LPA to be applied for in the first place. You can also nominate people to be notified when the LPA is activated (or registered with an institution) but this is not compulsory.

If you think an LPA is being misused you can report it to OPG online: https://www.gov.uk/report-concern-about-attorney-deputy-guardian

You don’t just “get the LOA enacted and have control” unless they can be shown to lack capacity.

That's not right. The donor can opt for it to become active once they have lost capacity, but that's not the only option. It can also become active immediately upon registration or upon the decision of the donor. So, basically, the donor can decide when it is to become active whilst they retain capacity.

Health LPA is different to Finance LPA

They need to have lost capacity for the health LPA to be used. Not so for the finance LPA

Normally it’ll be the person who set up the LPA who has the original - my mother has hers, but I know where it is. So I can’t start using it without her say so. Not sure how that works with the online code though, we’ve just got the paper one. We’re not yet at the point of putting it to use, but I’m getting a lot more involved in her financial affairs e.g. sat in on the meeting with a financial advisor, and helping online as her sight isn’t v good esp when codes are needed to verify identity, sent as a text.

I seem to remember from doing this for another relative that some organisations sent letters to the person’s home address when we put the LPA into action, acting as a check on it, like when you get a message from the bank saying a new DD etc has been set up.

We didn't have any problems, and my mum was perfectly able to speak to them on the phone. She was just unable to go to a bank or cash machine, or to use a computer (for physical disability reasons).