Power of attorney taking equity against donors property

[Aliapple]

My younger brothers partner has been power of attorney for our dad for around 6 years after my mum passed away. Myself & my older brother have just found out that they have recently taken a £130,000 equity loan against our dad’s house so they can buy a bigger house without discussion with either of us. My dad suffers with memory problems & didn’t even know what I was talking about when I asked him about it. All bank statements & mortgage details are kept at my younger brothers house so we are not even able to check what’s going on.

is this legal?

I'm sure that someone with more knowledge than me could answer but am fairly sure 5hat acting as Power of attorney means that you are trusted. To act in the best interest of that person. Helping yourself in that way is hugely taking advantage.

Who lives where?

The POA is supposed to act in the donors wishes - or their best interests if their wishes are unknown. I can't see taking a mortgage/equity release on the donors property to benefit the POA fits this brief...

You need to be contacting the Office of Public Guardian OP.

No this is not legal. Power of attorney means managing things in your father's interests. Definitely not borrowing money for their own house!

They have committed a serious crime and I wouldn't hesitate to report this. If not they may take even more money.

https://www.gov.uk/report-concern-about-attorney-deputy-guardian

No, it is not legal. Your younger brother's partner is required to act in your father's best interests, not enrich themselves at his expense. As a previous poster says, you need to report this to the Office of the Public Guardian.

I agree report to the OPG, be prepared for it to take ages and you need to be proactive in chasing them. https://www.gov.uk/report-concern-about-attorney-deputy-guardian

Is your father going to move in with them ? They could say they are buying a bigger property so that he can live with them (granny annex?) or so that they can care for him. Might be hard to prove otherwise.

To take such an equity loan release against a donors property where they have lost capacity would normally need a court of protection high court order. I would be calling the equity company make formal complaint the house deeds should show who the loan is with mention to them you are reporting to OPG. Are you sure they haven’t forced the donors signiture a DSAR request could be made to the equity release firm

Check the donors deeds at the land registry for £3 you can also sign up for property alerts to check against fraud. If you have evidence of financial abuse you should also report to police as well as OPG.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/relationships-family/protection-from-abuse/financial-abuse/

some further advice

I had a client with attorneys who took out an equity release mortgage on their home because they needed 24 hour care at home and their DC couldn’t do the caring. It was done with a statement from the GP and a court order.

I can’t imagine anything less than similar to that would be a justifiable reason for an equity release.

If he has sole PoA then he can do things if it's in the best interest of your dad. This doesn't sound like that and there are strict rules about it.
It may be worth discussing with your other brother and agreeing how to raise it. I'd probably start with "hey brother, I just found this out and I am not sure how it aligns with the OPG guidelines. Can we talk about what the plan is for DF? Is he moving in with you?"

Another side point, did they have a mortgage to buy their bigger house? Mortgage lenders usually want to know where “non-mortgage” funds come from and you’re not allowed to get a loan to fund them. If they’ve said the money was a gift they’ve committed fraud on top of everything else.

Absolutely report them to OPG. They have taken advantage of your dad and abused a position of trust. They are due no niceties.

How likely are the OPG to actually prosecute and remove the POA? My BIL and his wife have taken over £100k using a POA for my FIL in the last 7 years. We’ve reported him but have no faith in the OPG actually prosecuting. FIL has dementia, BIL & his wife live with him, use FIL’s money to pay for absolutely everything including buying himself lunch at Gail’s and her buying herself designer glasses using the BIL’s POA bank card that’s in my FIL’s name. It’s theft. Nothing more, nothing less.

Around 15%-20% of OPG investigations end with a case in the Court of Protection. Another 5%-10% end in measures short of going to court, with the remainder leading to no further action.