My sister and I have joint power of attorney for our mother. It wasn't until I went into the bank to ask about taking control of mum's bank account that we discovered that both of us would have to be present. This isn't easy, as my sister lives some distance away, and her work means that she is only able to visit at weekends when the bank is shut.
Our solicitor said that he would need to redraft the power of attorney and resend it to the Office of the Public Guardian. So back in early October Mum signed a new document, we posted it back to the solicitor and assumed that all would be well. However, we have just discovered that the solicitor has not yet submitted the application to the OPG, and we think that he may have lost the document that mum signed. If we want a poa that will allow us to act 'jointly and severally,' it looks as if we may well have to go through getting Mum to sign in front of a witness again (keeping our fingers crossed that she is having a good day when she does this), and going to the back of the queue with the OPG Scotland (their website says they are currently dealing with applications from June).
My sister will be here this Friday, which means we can talk to the bank to sort things out with them. Once we are able to manage the bank account, do we just give up on the reworded power of attorney, or are there going to be other situations where my sister and I both have to be present in order to manage Mum's affairs? I'm thinking of things like dealing with utility companies and selling her car.
We'd like to avoid the stress of getting a new poa arranged if we will be able to manage with our original one. Any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Our solicitor said that he would need to redraft the power of attorney and resend it to the Office of the Public Guardian. So back in early October Mum signed a new document, we posted it back to the solicitor and assumed that all would be well. However, we have just discovered that the solicitor has not yet submitted the application to the OPG, and we think that he may have lost the document that mum signed. If we want a poa that will allow us to act 'jointly and severally,' it looks as if we may well have to go through getting Mum to sign in front of a witness again (keeping our fingers crossed that she is having a good day when she does this), and going to the back of the queue with the OPG Scotland (their website says they are currently dealing with applications from June).
My sister will be here this Friday, which means we can talk to the bank to sort things out with them. Once we are able to manage the bank account, do we just give up on the reworded power of attorney, or are there going to be other situations where my sister and I both have to be present in order to manage Mum's affairs? I'm thinking of things like dealing with utility companies and selling her car.
We'd like to avoid the stress of getting a new poa arranged if we will be able to manage with our original one. Any advice or suggestions would be very much appreciated.