POA not being recognised by bank

[AnnoyedAsHell9]

Hi
I'm struggling with a certain highstreet bank and i would appreciate any advice on what my legal position is.

I and my sister hold POA both Finance and Health for my stepfather who is severely disabled with Huntingdons.
My mum has sadly passed away recently, she was his main carer.

In all the things that we are having to wade through, most people have been kind and caring and although difficult, we are getting there.
The one stumbling block is the bank, I have called to begin the conversation about mums financial bits and pieces and they are refusing to speak to me as my stepfathers legal representative. They don't recognise the POA as being relevant in terms of discussing my mums affairs, even though i am representing her next of kin.
He is unable to speak nor sign his name to be able to provide additional consent so am I just stuck with applying for LOA or is there another route of argument with the bank?

any help much appreciated

thanks

Who is the executor of your mums estate? They are the people who need to deal with the bank initially

Did your mother have a will? Who is the executor?

Have you already registered the POA with the bank? If so and is also been registered for telephone banking they should be able to speak to you.
If not make an appt to register the POA with them. If it's not registered with them unfortunately they won't be able to speak to you

You need to register thePOA with the bank, you can’t just ring up and say that you have POa. There are legal steps the bank need to follow.

But tbh the executor should be dealing with the bank.

Who is the Executor for your mum, maybe until all the paperwork is transferred to sd you cannot do much. What information are you trying to give them. It sounds very frustrating, sorry for the loss of your mum.

If the bank have a bereavement line they may be able to help you and tell you what you need to do ..

You need to register LPA with the bank my husband did for his mum . We had to make an appointment and take the LPA , proof of identity and proof of address, it then took a couple of weeks to go through their legal department

@AnnoyedAsHell9 is it Virgin? They've been shockingly unhelpful with my DFs POA.

I registered POA in person at DFs banks- take photo id, original documents etc. Then you can actually talk to a person about what needs to be done. Second pp saying that bereavement lines and your DMs executors should be able to help too.

Thanks
I will be the executor, no will present and i have registered the POA with that particular bank on my stepfathers accounts.
I think what i'm trying to figure out is if the bank have a legal position to deny the conversation.

Surely you're on

Sorry!

Surely you're oh

registered POA in person at DFs banks- take photo id, original documents etc. Then you can actually talk to a person about what needs to be done. Second pp saying that bereavement lines and your DMs executors should be able to help too.

Second this, I could only get the POA registered by going to the branch.

Jesus. Fat fingers....

Aren't you phoning the bank in your role as executor (or administrator if no will) to your mums estate rather than on behalf of your dad? PoA for your dad won't cover your mums account until her estate has been settled and the money gone to your dad.

They need to speak to the executor of your mum’s will about her ‘financial bits and pieces’. I appreciate that’s you, but I suspect they are looking for you to prove that to them. They couldn’t talk to your dad unless he was executor.

If you are the executor they will have to discuss with you but will want to see death certificate etc, as pp said, see if they have a bereavement team, and again, go into the bank and speak to someone.

I suspect the problem is that you are wanting to speak on behalf of someone who first needs to demonstrate that they are the personal representative of the estate.

Are you applying for letters of administration on behalf of your stepfather?

They were discussing this very issue on R4 today, think it was on You and Yours at lunchtime. Might be worth a listen.

Thanks All. They have a bereavement team and that is their position. All docs have been provided and registered for his accounts, no problem there.

Why on earth did your mum not have a will?

I hope your stepfather does, and that his will ensures that his inheritance from your mum goes to you and your siblings.

Agree with PP that the stepfather is a red herring as such. You are dealing with this as the executor so that's the discussion you need to have. Stepfather / POA etc is irrelevant

If I'm reading right it's your mum's estate and she didn't leave a will. In which case you need "letters of administration" to prove your legal right to manage her estate. You apply for probate but as your step father is next of kin but unable to act as administrator you can be nominated as administrator instead of him. This where you bring up the fact you have POA. It's a long time since I did it (and it was with an LPA) but banks etc won't speak to you without that bit of paper - and even if your step father was well he would still need the "letters of administration" before they would deal with him.

OP says there's no will, so she's not an executor of anything.

Assuming her mother and stepfather were married, he is the one entitled to apply for Letters of Administration as he is the next of kin (which OP will need to do on his behalf as his attorney). I fully expect the bank will deal with OP once they've established that stepfather is the administrator.

This is what I'm trying to do. I'm not doing it as daughter but as his representative. They have stated that in normal circumstances they would be happy to speak to her next of kin, which is him, without LOA. So frustrating

It is usually the surviving spouse (where there is one) who is entitled to apply for a Letter of Administration. Children can apply if there is no spouse.

In your case, I think you have two options:

1. Ask the probate office if you can apply for a Letter of Administration in your own right, given your step-father's incapacity.
2. Apply for the Letter of Administration on your step-father's behalf, using your POA for him.

If the Probate Office will allow it, option (1) is going to be easier. Details on your options and how to contact them here

Can't you just not involve him at all and apply for him to devolve letters of to administration to you - that would presumably be via a solicitor who could confirm his lack of capacity - why would the bank be involved at all?