arranging Power of Attorney -property and financial affairs when someone dying

[peridito]

My brother is in a hospice and has ,as far as anyone can say ,at most 2 weeks to live .

His wife is anxious because the hospice can't allow him to sign papers giving her POA .He's not well enough to do this .

I'm trying to reassure her that as their wills are in order this wont really matter . What are the implications if POA can't be completed ? I don't understand as I thought a POA was important to deal with affairs while someone was alive ? Not so much for a few days before they die .

My sister in law thinks that it might be possible to have the POA approved without the signature by ? applying to a court ? But what's the point ?

A general power of attorney can only be signed (and used) if a person has capacity. This is usually used for urgent matters or if for example someone is going abroad and needs their attorney to finish a house sale.

A lasting power of attorney can only be signed if the person has capacity (but can be used if they later lost capacity) and must be registered with the office of the public guardian before it can be used. The registrations process takes 12 weeks!

Sorry about your brother.

POA (for Health & Welfare or Property & Finance - there are 2 types) is only used while the person is alive and usually takes a few weeks/months to be received from the Office of Public Guardian after its been signed and interested parties notified.

Sadly it sounds as if this will be of no use to your brother.

As long as he has a valid up to date will, this will be of more use to your sil.

Thank you .

I'm wondering if the signature requests are part of a larger document .
My understanding is that my brother and sisterinlaw were applying for POA to go to eachother with the ability for it then to be passed on to third parties if the one with capacity also lost capacity while alive .

Sadly in these circumstances a POA is a waste of time

Sorry to hear about your brother. Do you know why she is getting.anxious about this and why she wants poa at this stage. He cannot sign papers and as others have said it is now too late.

no I don't know ,I feel concerned that something I don' t understand is going on .

It’s too late for a POW as he will not have capacity to sign, and it also takes several weeks to be sorted out. The document needs to be witnessed by a third party who are agreeing that the person making the POW is basically of sound mind! Does she want a financial or health POW?

Thanks ,it was a financial one .