Can anyone tell me anything about enduring powers of attorny?

[clumsymum]

My sister has suggested to my mother that she should set up an 'enduring power of attorny', so that if anything happens and mother goes gaga, sister can deal with matters, get at her money, etc.

My mother understands the need for this (she is getting on a bit), but would like to make sure that I shared the responsibilty so that, if the worst happens we BOTH know what is happening to mother and her assets.

Mother is going to consult a solicitor in the next couple of weeks, but so we know what to ask....

Can a power of attorney be given to two parties equally, so that 2 signatures are needed for actions?
When does an enduring power actually come into effect? who decides mother is gaga and we need to act for her? or would it just be possible for us to decide to take matters out of her hands (which is what worries her. My sis is quite controlling).

Anything you can tell me would be appreciated.

I don't know the answer but i know if it was me I'd be resistant to it until I actually was incapable

Zippi, the problem is that if you wait until someone is incapable, then you have to thru the legal system to get power of attorney, which costs much more (so depleting assets), and takes time, which can be a problem if you're trying to sort out care or something for the elderly person.

bump in case of lunching lurking lawyers

Yes, you can grant an enduring power of attorney to more than one person. The power can be general, i.e. the grantee has authority to deal with anything and everything on behalf of the grantor, or specific, i.e. limited to specific issues.

Unlike an ordinary power of attorney, an enduring power of attorney can come into effect or continue in force after you lose your mental capacity. It will come into effect immediately if you do not specify in it that it should not take effect until you lose your mental capacity. Loss of mental capacity would need to be confirmed by medical professionals.

yes you can do this my dad and his sister did this with there dad, they both had power of attorney and both had to sign things to get money out of bank accounts etc hth

yes this can be done - my dh and my sil have power of attorney over my mil/fil in the event anything should happen to them. It was quite easy to set up, both my dh and sil had to sign a form agreeing and obviously mil/fil had to do the same. I would strongly advise this as the process to obtain power of attorney in the event someone loses their mental capasity is extremely time-consuming and much much more expensive than if power is signed over before the person loses their mental capasity. My mil is currently having to go through this for her mother who has sever depression and is under a section. It involves having to go through the court of protection, a process which was started early in the year and which has cost over £2000. Once the power is granted, my mil will still have to apply to the courts every time she wishes to make a withdrawal or spend any money on her mother's behalf, and every time she applies, she has to pay a fee. But her mum refused to sign over power earlier and now it has come to this, and effectively a letter is sent to the person concerned saying that the subject, my mil in this case, is taking her to court to obtain power of attorney over her assets. Its a horrible horrible process, and one which my mil certainly would rather have avoided.