Warning, a very long reply!
You asked for examples of how things would be difficult without POA. Here are some examples, based on my own experience, of situations that could be very difficult for you children to manage without registered financial and property POA:
- Parent draws out large amounts of cash on a regular basis and loses it or gives it away
Parent uses their credit/debit card to pay for unnecessary goods and services, and scams
Parent's house needs repairs or adaptations
You need to purchase or hire goods or equipment to assist a disabled parent with daily living
You need to contact utility and insurance companies where the contract is in the parent's name, including renewal of agreements and making claims
You need to contact the Inland Revenue or DWP regarding parent's tax or benefits
You need/want to change parent's bank accounts or investments
You need to set up bank approved access for online banking
You need to draw cash, write cheques, or pay bills on behalf of the parent
You want to sell parent's car
You need to sell or otherwise dispose of parent's goods and moveable property
You need to sell or rent out parent's home or other real property
You need to pay for care services, both at home and in a residential setting
All of the above have applied in our family with regard to either my husband's mum or my mum.
OH has financial POA for his mum (not welfare). Things have therefore been straightforward. He has a whiny sister who was very put out when, after 10 years of acting as their mum's attorney, the time came for OH to register the POA. This is the old Enduring Power of Attorney that could be activated without registration, and then you register it when the adult loses mental capacity. The new LPA system is a bit different. His sister saw it as a power thing, that all the children should have equal say, and the right of veto. Of course she didn't want any of the hard work of being an attorney, she just wanted to pick up the phone to raise objections and issue instructions.
Once SIL understood that she could only object to OH's registration as attorney on very specific legal grounds, and that the alternative was for an expensive solicitor to become her mother's Deputy, she shut up about it. She had a good moan on the phone to OPG first though, and they just confirmed what we had already told her and shown her in the EPA guidance notes. She is someone who usually gets her own way by nagging, but fortunately this is a situation where nagging and "but it's not fair to me" has no effect!
IMO this is a jolly good reason to have sole POA, otherwise you could have conflict between attorneys. Your mum needs to be warned about the danger of joint attorneys pulling in different directions. She probably thinks appointing you all gives her and your dad protection from any one child making unwise choices. However, the law is clear that if you make someone your attorney then you trust them. Individuals have attempted to hedge their POA with restrictions and ifs, buts and maybes. These just get overruled by the COP, and all the embroidery is ripped out!
Your parents must not set you up for a fall. If one attorney complains to OPG about the actions of another one, there is a risk that the powers that be might deem this to be an unworkable situation. In extreme cases a solicitor could then apply to be Financial Deputy and the local authority to be Welfare Deputy. How expensive would all that be, and how much would it NOT benefit your parents and their children!
With my mum, she granted her POAs to people who were unwilling and eventually unable, for practical reasons to be her attorneys. For 6.5 years I have been doing 95% of the role, but without legal authority. While she still had capacity she authorised my brother to deal with her investments and made her 2 current a/cs joint with me. This has saved our bacon because here in Scotland a joint a/c holder can continue to manage the funds when the other loses capacity. I can pay her bills online and draw cash. Since I live 500 miles away and generally only visit every few weeks, this is essential.
Last winter I began the process of applying for Guardianship, which is the Scottish equivalent of Deputyship in England. This is a length and expensive process, and once I am appointed will involve much more ongoing paperwork and scrutiny by the OPG. I wish I had POA, but my mother would never have given it to me, she favoured my brother and trusted him to take care of all her future wants and needs. Big HA HA to that one!
I decided I needed legal authority to manage my mum's financial and property affairs, and health and welfare, for the following reasons:
She needs grant-aided adaptations to her home and only the home owner or attorney/deputy/guardian can authorise this. Without legal authority you are ineligible to apply for government funding. I applied to have the adaptations in November last year. It took 6 months for her to be 'prioritised' (big HA! to that one too) for OT assessment, without which you cannot get assessed for house adaptations support by the Council. Then I've had meetings about plans, site visits, and finally signed the contract paperwork last week, brandishing my interim Guardianship order (newly arrived). Without this the Application could not go forward to the Council Grants Officer. I reckon we still won't get works started until October, which means it will have been nigh on a year before an 89 year old disabled woman gets the adaptations she needs for safety and personal care. If I had been her attorney I would have stamped my feet and got things moving faster, but I have been waiting 7 months to get Guardianship as far as the local court (delay caused by another part of the Council's SS deciding that it was not a priority, but that's another story and is specific to the Scottish system).
My mum's house also needed minor works to create more living space and for this a Building Warrant was needed from the Council (which I applied for in my name). Luckily my interim Guardianship order arrived just before I had to send in the completion of works form, otherwise they would not have been able to issue the completion certificate to me.
My mum might need to go into nursing care in the future and lacks capacity to make decisions or to contract for residential care services. She might also need medical treatment to be authorised. So far I have got away with brandishing the existing welfare POA but now the Attorney has said he doesn't want to do it any more someone else has to take over.
OH will be joint Guardian with me, but I will still be doing the majority of the work, with advice and support from him. However, he will be authorised to do anything that I would do, should it be necessary for any practical reason.
A very long saga, but I hope it gives you plenty of ideas to share with your family. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Crossing your fingers and hoping to get by without legal authority is not a sensible strategy. It is technically possible to get legal authority granted in emergency by the courts for specific time-limited actions, but that would cost a lot more than just getting the POA set up in a timely manner.