Can banks revoke POA

[pixiemummy01]

My sister and I are joint Powers of attorney for my mother. In 2019 we went to her banks etc with the Original powers of attorney paperwork to get it registered.
Fast forward to the beginning of this year her property was sold and the monies paid into her current account (Santander) I decided to move the bulk of the money into a high interest account for obvious reasons, went into my local branch with my ID and the POA paperwork.

A few months later they write to me asking for ID and the Power of Attorney again , I dutifully sent it off.
Then they starting writing to me saying the POA was incorrect it had not been stamped correctly!
Next thing they wrote to my sister and myself saying they are removing us from the accounts, are they allowed to do this?
I have been in contact with OPG at Birmingham, they say the POA is legitimate.
can anyone shed any light on the matter please?

Who “stamped” it?

If there is an issue with the LPA, yes the bank can refuse it.

I have been in contact with OPG at Birmingham, they say the POA is legitimate.

you have that in writing? We’ll send to bank

but the bank can certainly not accept POA if they have evidence to indicate the POA is not genuine

If it is a certified copy, you may wish to go back to the certifying solicitors and speak with them about it.

Is your mother still alive?
does she have capacity?

Hello thanks for the replies, my issue is that the bank accepted it in 2019 and we had access to her bank to pay bills, obviously mum is still alive but lacks mental capacity to deal with financial affairs.
Our family solicitors accepted it for the sale of the property , her pension provider accepted it.
OPG stamps the paperwork in Birmingham and also there are the perforations at the bottom of the page.

OP if the bank has an issue with the actual document you can ask the OPG to provide you with a copy. Take that and the letter enclosed with it to an appointment in the branch and then if that is not accepted follow the bank’s complaints procedure. I would also attend the appointment together ( both attorneys). If your mum has capacity get a signed letter from her or even better, take her with you.

If they now think there is an issue, they have to do something about it, even if they accepted it before. Did you send them the original document, or a certified copy? If certified, they would be querying the certification. POA's can now be done with a generated code, if they were issued 2016 or after, so that might be easier for you to look into.

But does she have capacity to confirm that she would like her daughters to represent her financial interests?

The OP and her sibling already have POA and it has been in place for years.

Yes but it is being disputed now by the bank

if the mother steps in and confirm the POA stands - then no issue.

See?

If they think it’s not correct then they’re obliged to revoke it.

The bank will have a customer support team that specially deal with vulnerable clients / additional needs / extra support. They can be a bit tricky to find, but they’ll almost certainly be more helpful to deal with to resolve this.

Exactly

the bank isn’t doing this for shits and giggles

They believe that they sufficient justification to revoke.

Whether they do or not and you need to provide the evidence to confirm it is valid

The POA would still have to meet the required formalities to be acceptable, the mother would have to execute a new POA, she couldn’t just confirm a POA that isn’t properly executed “stands”, even if she had capacity (which OP has confirmed she does not).

OP, clarify with the bank what the issue is and go from there.

Indeed

but very straightforward

That's not how it works. Besides, the OP says her DM lacks mental capacity.

You can't 'step in' if you don't have capacity. I'd imagine it's highly unlikely that the OP's Mum is able to do that.

To manage financial matters

I have pay for my aunt. She’s fully in control but struggling with finances

Highly unlikely

but not out of the question hence me asking 🤷‍♀️

They can’t revoke it, they can only refuse it.

This has happened to me before, at work. Banks don’t say no for no reason.

Go onto the OPG website and complete / submit a form called OPG100
takes upto a couple of weeks for the response but will provide details of any court approved arrangements in place

What happened in the end, @pixiemummy01 ? Did you manage to sort it out?

If it’s a certified copy, a PoA needs to be stamped, certified and signed on every page.

It has all been sorted out thanks