Power of attorney help

[scoobydoo2]

hi, my mother has dementia. My father wants to give my sister power of attorney in the event of his death.
I’m guessing this would give her full control of the estate and the ability to make any decision about my mother. I would like any big decisions like selling the property to have to be agreed by at least another sibling.

Could a stipulation be put in place so another sibling would have to agree before major decisions be made ?

If a joint power of attorney was setup not several I guess this would address this, but would both siblings have the ability to manage day to day stuff like managing paying bills ?

Appreciate any help,here.

 

[Jessbow]

''Joint and several '' is often best where there are sibs.

Power of attorney for your father wouldnt have any effect on your mother, and after your fathers death- when his POA would cease to be effective- you'd need to apply for deputyship for your mother

 

[canary]

Hello @scoobydoo2

If your father gives POA to your sister this will give her authority over your fathers share of the estate, but not your mothers, nor any decisions about her welfare. Decisions about anything to do with your mother requires a POA for her, or a deputyship is she is no longer able to give one. If your mum has given POA to your dad, but with no replacement attorneys then this POA would become invalid if your dad became unable to carry out his duties (if he lost capacity, for example) and all POAs cease upon death.

POA can be worded in lots of different ways. You can get joint POA which can be done in 2 ways - so that the atorneys have to act jointly for every decision made (and, yes, this can cause problems with things like paying bills), or they can act jointly and severally, which means that they can both act entirely separately. There can also be stipulations about having to make specified decisions jointly. Complex POAs can become difficult to implement, though.

Do remember though, that who is chosen to be the attorney and how they are to act is entirely your dads decision.

 

[northumbrian_k]

As @canary has said, Power of Attorney is only valid whilst the Donor is still alive, so I am guessing that you are talking about managing your mother's finances on her behalf should your father predecease her.

Does your father already have Power of Attorney (POA) over your mother's finances? If POA exists and your father is sole attorney it would only be possible to add one or more additional attorneys by making a new Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). If no LPA exists a new one could be set up, with the choice of attorneys and how they should act to be decided by your mother. In either of these scenarios your mother would need to have capacity and agree to do it.

If the issue is that your Dad wishes someone to take on looking after your mother's finances in the event of his death, and assuming that she has capacity to do it, your mother could if she wished choose to appoint him as attorney with your sister and yourself named as replacement attorneys who could act only under certain conditions as set out in this guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...ting-power-of-attorney-a-guide-web-version#A4

As to the practicalities of how attorneys act, I can only comment from my own experience. I am attorney for my wife jointly and severally with her son. He lives 300 miles away and has shown no interest in acting as attorney over the last 3 years, being happy to leave this to me. In effect, to use that somewhat unhappy term, he is just there as a 'backstop'. My guess is that you would wish to take a more active role.

 

[scoobydoo2]

Thank you all for the information, really appreciate the help. I don't know of my dad has power of attorney over my mothers finances i need to find out.
I just want to ensure that if a possible a sibling couldn't just e.g sell the property without another sibling agreeing.

 

[nitram]

I don't know of my dad has power of attorney over my mothers finances i need to find out.

Best check for free on
https://www.gov.uk/find-someones-attorney-or-deputy

This will only show powers that have been registered with the OPG