Lasting Power of Attorney

[SushiAtTheSeaside]

We would like to get LPA set up. Is this something straightforward enough that we could do on our own via the .Gov website or is it better to get a solicitor/will writer to do it?

DH and I would each name the other as the attorney. We don't have family in the UK and have only a couple of close friends; we are planning to ask one of the friends to serve as a replacement attorney.

Our oldest child won't be 18 for several years, but we were thinking that, at that point, we could appoint them as replacement attorney as well, and they could make decisions with the other replacement attorney. Does that make sense?

I started mine online the other day (now youngest ds is 18 so I can name them both).

I haven't added any specific details or wishes to follow, and was pleasantly surprised about how quick the completion of the forms was. Certainly not a long tedious form as someone mentioned above.
I just need to speak to a friend and ensure she is happy to sign off as the certificate provider and then do the printing & signing.

It was me who said that! We found it so, but it was quite a few years ago, maybe it has changed.

I think it must have!
My parents did theirs, on paper, a few years ago (but did it all themselves) and it did seem to be a bit of a performance.
There seems to be very little to the online forms other than names and addresses. Of course if you want to put in specific wishes then you need to include those as well.

That must have changed since I did mine.
It was quite a while ago now.

I have been trying to get two LPA s for over a year . Filled in all the forms but they kept returning them even after they sent me a letter that said they had been approved ! I rang the Office of the Public Guardian several times. They were all foreign and advised me to get a solicitor . Mine didnt want to do it ! I also put in an application through Which Magazine which seems my best hope at the moment. There is a reasonable charge and they check the form for you for errors. We are over 80 and need these LPAs .asap.

As long as you follow the instructions it's easy enough to do yourself. Just make sure you follow the rules about signing order and who can witness etc.
My husband and I have recently done it. We have put each other and our children down as attorneys all are down as equal attorneys.
As your children are under 18 you can add them when they are old enough.

I’m currently in the process of doing this for my mum and it looks fairly straightforward.
Does it really matter which order the documents are signed and witnessed if we are all together and do it on the same day?

If all on the same day, technically yes, because certain people are signing to say that other people have done things, but practically, if you're all sat around a table together, you could all be form filling and signing together.

If you use the online make an LPA service, there is a section where you can put dates of signing in and it will tell you if your application is valid. Obviously, if the date is the same for everyone, it will be.

When I did it I printed then put post it notes next to the different bits each person has to sign as you need:
Donor ie person it's about
Certificate provider...who signs to say you understand what you're signing
Attorney/attorneys
Witnesses as it is convoluted as to who can witness for what! I read through this bit loads of times to make sure who was suitable

I called a summit lol and we did it all together at the same time.

I have experienced huge trauma due to my to my sisters having LPA and completely taking control over my mums life ,her independance and mental and financial abuse ,deprivation of my mum , stopped from seeing her daughters and grandchildren ,due to this document being issued to 1 family member .
Caused so much neglect and control of a vulnerable person diagnosed with dementia and alzhmies mum clearly wanted to see myself and sister but no one listened no one .
Mum suffered so much and I will fight to my dying day to prevent the LP A being issued without the full family agreement and choices of objections if I feel mum is not being treated with care and respect

Ha! You haven’t got to the worst bit. Unless your attorneys live close by you’ll be sending the paper copies registered post around the country to get signatures . Then you send the documents to the office of the public guardian who take ages to acknowledge receipt . If they find you have made a mistake or anything is signed in the wrong order, you have to start again
and pay another fee. I’ve finally had an email saying they have received my documents and will write to me confirming the LPA but a week later haven’t received the letter so I don’t know if has been lost in the post. Nightmare.

Really straightforward on line...just make sure you sign in the right order! There is a checker online

@MountfordIt’s not the fault of a LPA that siblings don’t speak! One person making a decision is often better than warring siblings and inaction. There’s many reasons not to have multiple attorneys. It can cause lots of issues with the companies you have to deal with. Talking to siblings is always the best thing and you cannot blame a LPA for that relationship breaking down because it would have anyway.

It’s a easy as pie- have done one for my DF and also for myself and DH. So long as you follow the instructions you can’t really go wrong. A solicitor will charge an absolute fortune to do this. £82 to do it yourself for each LPA( health and welfare and finance are two separate forms but much the same stuff on each.)

yes, please be aware of this. My MIL and FIL have POA for each other. They are now 90 and do not have capacity to manage their affairs, but they also don’t have capacity to remove themselves as POA to each other and let their children take over to help them. They cannot access banking, email or phones, and both have poor short term memory issues. Their solicitor isn’t helping and we have been told there is nothing we can do until one of them passes away.

I did it myself for my mum and it is simple but people are right about the importance of dates on the form. What I suggest is you get witnesses to sign it but not date it and you date it once everything is signed .