Can anyone tell me please how I go about becoming a signatory for my mum for her cheques? I already have (along with my brothers) financial power of attorney but this was put in place years ago before it was ever needed and we have never needed to use it. Now she is having great difficulty signing cheques as she cannot always remember her name and when she does remember she can't always spell it and can only do the first half of it. Do I contact the bank and ask for different cheque book and do they need to see power of attorney paperwork etc? Not sure how this all works. Thank you.
Signing cheques for mum
- Thread starter Tessi
- Start date
Yes, it sounds like it is high time to take over her finances. Has the POA been registered? If so, then you are good to go, otherwise it will need registering before it can be used. The bank will indeed need to see the original paperwork, so I would book an appointment to see her bank manager, take the paperwork (they should photocopy it and give it back - make sure you do get it back) and 2 forms of ID. They can then sort out her account keeping the same account number, but giving you a card and cheque book in your name which you can use on her behalf.
canary is right in saying you now need to register the PoA, as it isn't valid until it is.
Just one more thing I'd say is that whenever I sign for mum I was told to sign and then put (PoA for xxxxxx) in brackets afterwards.
Just one more thing I'd say is that whenever I sign for mum I was told to sign and then put (PoA for xxxxxx) in brackets afterwards.
Yes, it sounds like it is high time to take over her finances. Has the POA been registered? If so, then you are good to go, otherwise it will need registering before it can be used. The bank will indeed need to see the original paperwork, so I would book an appointment to see her bank manager, take the paperwork (they should photocopy it and give it back - make sure you do get it back) and 2 forms of ID. They can then sort out her account keeping the same account number, but giving you a card and cheque book in your name which you can use on her behalf.
Thanks for your reply. Poa was all arranged years ago through her solicitor so hopefully this means it was registered but if not then how would we register it? Back to solicitor?
No the initial set up document may have been written but until you 'register' it (because it could be revoked at any point up until that time) it is not endorsed.
My mothers had also been set up years ago (as have my husbands and mine) and I just went to see the solicitors. They then have to contact any relatives to ensure no-one has any objections to registering it. Took about 6 weeks and then has a stamp across it to show anyone it is now valid.
Nothing to do with the solicitor. You send the signed document to the Office of Public Guardian with the correct payment enclosed, they will notify all the people that might have been named as to notify. This is £110 per LPA at the moment, half price if the donor has less than £12,000 a year coming in and costs nothing if they are on qualifying benefits. You were lucky with six weeks, ours took much longer. It depends how busy they are right now.
It's easy to check whether it was registered, just look whether it has the official OPG stamps on it. If so, great, take it to the bank. Never ever let go of the original. If you have to send it off somewhere, let a solicitor make a certified copy for that.
It's easy to check whether it was registered, just look whether it has the official OPG stamps on it. If so, great, take it to the bank. Never ever let go of the original. If you have to send it off somewhere, let a solicitor make a certified copy for that.
Be very careful before you say anything to the bank until you have the whole POA situation sorted (as Beate explains above).
Once the bank are aware a person lacks capacity they are obliged to freeze the account until someone can prove they have legal authority to be using it.
What happens when you do go in the bank is a lottery, some "managers" have no experience of the situation, others are well informed.
I tried to deal with what was an English bank but is now owned by a bigger Scottish banking group and they insisted I produced a Continuing Power of Attorney (I think it was called) which is used in Scotland but doesn't exist in England, nightmare.
K
Once the bank are aware a person lacks capacity they are obliged to freeze the account until someone can prove they have legal authority to be using it.
What happens when you do go in the bank is a lottery, some "managers" have no experience of the situation, others are well informed.
I tried to deal with what was an English bank but is now owned by a bigger Scottish banking group and they insisted I produced a Continuing Power of Attorney (I think it was called) which is used in Scotland but doesn't exist in England, nightmare.
K
I need to ask you - is it an LPA or is it an EPA? An LPA isn't valid until registered but and EPA can be. You say it was set up many years ago - if it was created September (I think) 2007 or earlier it will be an EPA
Thank you to everybody for your help. I am much wiser now and won't go anywhere near the bank till I know exactly what I'm doing. Discovered that it is an EPA not an LPA but cannot find the bit with stamp on it. I suspect this part might be amongst my mums paperwork. I hope so! Onwards and upwards.
An EPA can be valid if the donor retains capacity, but it must be registered with the OPG if the donor has lost or is loosing capacity to remain valid for a person lacking capacity. It should not be registered before this time.
You can check for free if it is registered
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...86541/OPG100_Apply_to_search_PG_registers.pdf
You can check for free if it is registered
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...86541/OPG100_Apply_to_search_PG_registers.pdf
Hi Tessi, I have got POA for my mum, and would agree with everything said here. It must be properly registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. I have a cheque book ( Mums bankd is Nationwide, but other banks may do it differently - just to cheer you up all banks appear to have their own rules .... i know ... ) My cheque book and my mums run concurrently and are both accepted. My cheque book has my name printed with POA next to it - so that it is recognised that I do have the legal authority to sign the cheques. Having said that I have had absolute nightmares with the bank and have had to lodge about 4 formal complaints about how they have dealt with the accounts during the setting up of the POA - but I just kept kicking ass until i was heard! I also now have an online account so i can oversee if anything untoward is happening via my mum ( just in case she does something odd). Best of luck with it all, I'm really new to all this too, so just thought I'd throw in my own very recent experience of POA.
Hi Tessi, I have got POA for my mum, and would agree with everything said here. It must be properly registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. I have a cheque book ( Mums bankd is Nationwide, but other banks may do it differently - just to cheer you up all banks appear to have their own rules .... I know ... ) My cheque book and my mums run concurrently and are both accepted. My cheque book has my name printed with POA next to it - so that it is recognised that I do have the legal authority to sign the cheques. Having said that I have had absolute nightmares with the bank and have had to lodge about 4 formal complaints about how they have dealt with the accounts during the setting up of the POA - but I just kept kicking ass until i was heard! I also now have an online account so i can oversee if anything untoward is happening via my mum ( just in case she does something odd). Best of luck with it all, I'm really new to all this too, so just thought I'd throw in my own very recent experience of POA.
my sister and I both have EPA for my mum but it has not yet been registered. This was accepted as POA by mums bank and my sister and we both have cheque books and bank cards. Mums bank accounts are tied in with my online banking - making it easier to manage (we share the same bank)
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