Is Power of Attorney necessary if parent doesn’t own property?

[sunshinehappydays]

My DM is 75 and in great physical and mental health at the moment. I’m aware all of that can change quickly and she has expressed that she’d like to set up PoA with me (and probably my brother) on it.
My question is-she lives in a council house so I’m not sure what good it will do. As far as I’m aware she doesn’t have any savings either. She’s never worked and only gets pensions credit every month. In terms of health decisions she has expressed her wishes to me (would prefer to be in a NH if her health fails and would never want to stay with me or my brother).
I called around some legal practices near her and they quoted around £4/500 to set up PoA. My DM couldn’t afford this and I guess I could pay but I’m just wondering if it is worth it. My online search on this is a bit fruitless so thought I’d ask here. Thanks

You can set it up easily online, if she has specific health requests she can speak to her GP for a respect form, it might be called something different now. To access her money and manage accounts you could set up 3rd party banking with her bank. I think it's worth doing, especially if at some point she needs help or lacks capacity, also,make sure she has an up to date will.

Look up the office of the public guardian site, as a low earner on means tested benefits she may be entitled to a free poa or reduced fee. The normal fee to do,it online is £92 each form

Thanks. I did see the ones you set up online but it didn’t look particularly easy as I think it still had to be signed by a solicitor for a fee I presume and registered with the Office of Public Guardian. The last time I limed there was an 18 month backlog but that could have changed now.

We didn’t, Dad was in similar situation and when it came down to it all medical decisions were made by the doctors and housing wise it’s in the hands of adult social services. There was no actual benefit to having POA.

Just had another look and the Office of Public Guardian website said ‘you will need to arrange for your own PoA document to be drafted. This is not something we can help with as our role is to provide a registration service.’
I think that’s as far as I got the last time I looked and gave up!

@completelylostagainreally? Good to know. I’m a hospital pharmacist and work in a mixed multi disciplinary team so I think I would be fine with the medical side of things. It’s just the finances-but she doesn’t have any!

It doesn't really matter whether or not she has savings. If you want to be able to easily access her regular bank account that her pension is paid into, for example, you'll need PoA. It will make your life far easier in future if you have it.

It’s really easy to do yourself on the gov.uk website, think it cost about £100. Link here www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

It’s dead easy, in your situation. The hardest bit is getting people to sign their bit in the right order.
you go online, fill in the names and addresses of those involved, pay the fee (possibly reduced for your mum), then print out the forms and sign in the right order.

Read it all before you start so you get a feel for where you are going. Print it, get it signed by the right people in the right places with the right dates.
Someone else needs to sign that she understands what she’s doing.

Post it in and wait for it to be awarded.

no solicitor needed.

Ah I never thought about this, sorry OP. It wasn’t needed in our case.

You don’t need to involve a solicitor at any point.

Life is just generally MUCH easier if you can pay bills, speak to banks, talk to HMRC and DWP, talk to the GP and other health professionals, with legal authority.

We had PoA finance for my mum and that was all totally plain sailing, and thank the universe we had it. We didn’t have PoA for health and that was awful. I don’t know whether the outcome would really have been that different but I believe it would.

For finances, it helps if you have legal access to their banking so 3rd party access at the very least. If you are her obvious “next of kin” then if she’s unable to make decisions then you are likely to be consulted, but if you know she has strong opinions on something like medical treatment then POA really helps.

It may make it much easier for you. I now manage my mum’s bank account for her as she has dementia. I can sort out her bills and ensure everything is paid. Without the POA, you won’t be able to speak to anybody on your mum’s behalf if she needs you too and there are lots of situations where that maybe the case. We stopped mum being scammed on numerous occasions as I was able to intervene. I’ve now taken over the management of her finances fully which has stopped that worry.
Whilst your mum is still fully with it, just fill in the form yourself as it’s not too difficult. The POA doesn’t kick in until she needs it or if she needs it ( she may never need it, but it is a bit of insurance)
We left it a bit late and mum was already showing signs of dementia so did it through a solicitor just to be safe.

Op, please rethink a lot of the previous comments here. English POAs are completely different to the SCOTTISH SYSTEM! (shouting for the benefit of other posters...)

You will need a solicitor, it costs £99 just to register it but solicitors charge their own fee for the consultation and drafting. So it is very pricey and then there is the ridiculous backlog as you mentioned. However, if your mother's health were to decline to the point the poa was required then it can be expedited and is usually registered within 2 to 3 weeks.

(Source, legal secretary in a Scottish law firm)

I did both PoAs for my MIL she lives in private rented accommodation and has no savings. She was exempt from the fee as low income/benefits.
I have recently done both PoAs for myself and my DH just had to pay the fees for the OPG
It is not difficult to do, just make sure you do it all in the correct order
My parents years ago paid for solicitors to do theirs, they made 2 mistakes on my Mum’s which I had to chase the solicitors to rectify.

Sorry, deleting as see you are in Scotland. For anyone in England it’s easy!

POA is not just about the big things like house ownership. For example, in the future you might need to help your mother with banking, insurance matters, even shopping etc and to deal with 3rd parties on her behalf, you will need one to be registered. I cared for my mother for 10 years - I could not even speak to her bank to sort out problems on her behalf without one. If you ever need to use her bank card, you need one because technically you need to have your own card and PIN on her account as her revealing her own PIN to you (even if you're helping her), means she is breaking her agreement with the bank and could lose her entitlement to financial protection.
Those quotes do sound high but, while she is willing to do it, it's also very worthwhile getting the health one too. Without it, in the future, you could find yourself helpless in the face of the powers that be deciding your mother's future.
I understand that you can do both types online and that it's significantly cheaper.

I was in the same position as you and set up both financial and health POA at the same time and DM qualified for financial help for this
https://www.mygov.scot/power-of-attorney/set-up-power-of-attorney

Nope, it’s very simple to do it online, she will get a reduction and it doesn’t need to be signed by anyone apart from her, any deputies she chooses and a witness who can be a friend.

You can’t do it online if you live in Scotland. You have to go through a solicitor which brings the cost up to £100s. It’s outrageously expensive; I don’t understand why we can’t have a simple online system as they do in England.

I have POA for my mum and it’s been really useful. I can step in at any time and help her manage her financial affairs. It makes her life so much easier.

I have needed PoA (and had to provide proof) for really simple things like rescheduling hospital appointments. My DM doesn't drive and is too deaf to use the phone so I needed to book her appt for a time when I was free to take her. NHS apparently changed their policy in late 2025 and since then will not let you do anything, even routine admin, without sending in a copy of the PoA. I'd recommend getting both financial and health PoA if you can. It was a 10 month wait for us to get them back, that was in 2023.

Like you DM doesn't have property etc. but she still has bills to pay, food to buy etc. so it is useful.

You can’t do it online in Scotland. It’s a much more expensive process here.

Financial assistance can be available @Quercus5
www.mygov.scot/power-of-attorney/set-up-power-of-attorney