Do you need to get a POA for mum if dad has been diagnosed with Dementia after a fall/pneumonia+ taken to hospital. He paid all bills in person at the bank and all their money is in his name only in his account . Bills need paying who do we go to to help out?
How to access money from spouse 's bank account now he has just been diagnosed with Dementia?
- Thread starter Josie Jo
- Start date
Hello @Josie Jo and welcome to the forum.
Yes, someone is going to need POA for your dad to be able to access bank accounts. If your dad is still able to understand about granting POA then get him to do it quickly before he loses capacity.
I guess from your post, though, that he is not in a position to be able to do this at the moment. The other alternative is deputyship, which is done when the person has lost capacity, but it takes several months to come through and your dad may recover.
Im not sure what to suggest at the moment
Yes, someone is going to need POA for your dad to be able to access bank accounts. If your dad is still able to understand about granting POA then get him to do it quickly before he loses capacity.
I guess from your post, though, that he is not in a position to be able to do this at the moment. The other alternative is deputyship, which is done when the person has lost capacity, but it takes several months to come through and your dad may recover.
Im not sure what to suggest at the moment
If he still has capacity he could either
- grant mum third party access <legally ceases if capacity is lost>
- transfer half the balance to a new account in mum's name
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So is it a trip to a solicitor with mum to sort out POA? What would she need to take with her to discuss further with solicitors?
Sufficient ID for solicitor to 'know their client', ask before she goes.
Names and addresses of whom she wants to act as attorneys.
She can also make an online application to appoint attorneys
Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney
How to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA): starting an application online, choosing an attorney, certifying a copy, changing an LPA.
We arranged POA online for my dad and it was very straight forward and came through in about 6 weeks.
My mother in law has recently arranged it through a solicitor (for her) and so far it's been 2 meetings, 2 months and she was told it would be around 6 months in total. I don't understand why the process/timescales are so different!
Maybe if you need it more quickly, that might be worth taking into account too?
My mother in law has recently arranged it through a solicitor (for her) and so far it's been 2 meetings, 2 months and she was told it would be around 6 months in total. I don't understand why the process/timescales are so different!
Maybe if you need it more quickly, that might be worth taking into account too?
Get the PoA done ASAP if you still can.
One of the questions to be certified by a friend or neighbour is "Is this person still of sound mind... or similar"In June 2019, I was making an annual visit my sister, I live in Switzerland, I saw that she was seriously having memory problems, not just repetition. I went with my then 81-year-old sister to a solicitor we fortunately vaguely knew. Whilst we were there, my sister said, "why are we here, is it about the will". The solicitor and I exchanged glances and I explained, again, why. OK, we completed the PoAs in both health and wealth and they cost us then around 500 for both. The registration was done by the beginning of September, but then I needed to fly over to go to the bank personally in December, to get full banking access organised. I also submitted my PoA to the GP at this time, fortunately, later this more direct contact came in very useful. From that time on, I increasingly used the PoA to take over all running aspects of my sister's life.
Covid came and I had to do everything remotely. Fortunately, with the modern day registered PoAs, you can send most companies a link to view your registered PoA for 30 days. Only in very few circumstances, Lloyds Bank and NS&I? did I have to send signed registered copies of the registered PoAs, which again cost about 65 Pounds.
After 4 rather consuming years, my sister passed away back in July 2023, fortunately without physical pain, just mental frustration and the inability to eat and speak anymore. Without the PoAs in place, I don't know what I would have done.
My advice, don't try and save £, save time, go to a solicitor, just get it done, you need watertight PoAs.
Just one more thing, your PoA ceases when the PwD passes away. Use your PoA to simplify the finances towards their EoL, document their assets. I researched various ideas in this topic Funeral Preparation Checklist and created a Probate Inventory list, which greatly simplified matters.
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hi Apologies for jumping in on the conversation, we gave our daughter LPA SOME years ago and im so pleased we did , Our daughter filled out the application forms on line for our health and well being ,,,and financial ,,,for us both . She said it was well worth doing and saved us a lot of money by doing it herself ,Sufficient ID for solicitor to 'know their client', ask before she goes.
Names and addresses of whom she wants to act as attorneys.
She can also make an online application to appoint attorneys
This only costs £82 to register each LPA ( finance, health/welfare)Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney
How to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA): starting an application online, choosing an attorney, certifying a copy, changing an LPA.www.gov.uk
Most of the replies to Josie Jo’s question give advice on what you can and should do in her situation. in my opinion, of equal importance to many in a similar ,position, is information on what you cannot and should not do. I have a rough idea but rough ideas aren’t good enough. Perhaps someone else can highlight the dangers.
The difficulties which may arise:
In my experience, bearing in mind that I live outside the UK and was also not being able to be present in person because of the pandemic, in most cases I needed the PoA. I had to do almost everything online. What you can and should not do under the circumstances will depend on your capabilities, determination and needs. It's not easy.- Bank matters (Lloyds) required not only a registered PoA, but also I had to be present to at the bank with the PwD to register it and gain full online access, which my sister had not had before.
- I found it an advantage to register the PoA personally with the GP. Afterwards, I was even able once to organise a 20 min call to me in Switzerland to discuss an issue.
- Attendance Allowance, my sister was adamant she did not want it, but I was able to organise it remotely, without her consent, through a local friend, a local community organisation helper and using my PoA, and E-mail communication to get the application done. My sister knew nothing about it. All during Pandemic times.
- On receiving the AA and the official assessment, I used my PoA registered link to be able to organise a backdated Council Tax refund and Full Council Tax Rebate.
- With some utilities, memberships, I was able to create online access to investigate/control those aspects of my sister's life. I'm an IT person, in most cases it worked, although effectively I was masquerading as my sister but using an E-Mail account in my name. I never felt easy about this and was always honest where doubts were raised and provided the PoA link where possible. In most cases, the PoAs were only required when making financial changes.
- In one case, Scottish Widows, I created an online account, to check my sister's investments. Informed myself, wanted to make it more official, provided my PoA, all accepted, but they removed my online access, because only my sister would have been allowed to have it. No way round it. Shortly afterwards, I closed down this account, which I was allowed to do as PoA.
- On the phone, having a background as an IT support manager, I was able in some cases, to bypass and talk my way through some situations, which I had to do to get refunds from some DDs of the scammers who had been attacking my sister.
