arrodbo Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Can someone please give me a basic understanding of "power of attorney" We have Wills so what is the above? does it speed things up or is it in case me or wife become incapable and someone is then needed to carry out affairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandad.Malky Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Isn’t a will for what happens after you die while power of eternity gives someone the power to run your affairs when you are unable to do so ………….. no doubt someone with more knowledge will be along shortly but I think that’s the gist of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxyross Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Can someone please give me a basic understanding of "power of attorney" We have Wills so what is the above? does it speed things up or is it in case me or wife become incapable and someone is then needed to carry out affairs. Have a look at..... http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel's Mum Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 A power of attorney is a form signed in the presence of a solicitor which gives a named person the power to deal with either all of your affairs or certain activities you have outlined on the form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 You can set up a power of attorney for anything basically, from the decisions over your health to full control of all of your affairs, even if you are well enough to make those decisions yourself. When I was married I had full general power of attorney because my ex-husband had problems with being in this country at an appropriate time to sort out his tax issues, deal with banks and the like, so I was his representative with all of those sorts of things. Once I had supplied a copy of the agreement I could talk to anybody from his doctor to his credit card company and they would discuss things with me as they would with him. A power of attorney which is appointed by the court is usually done when someone is considered incapable of taking decisions affecting their own life, such as when suffering extreme mental health issues or dementia. This can take a while to go through the courts and is a lot more faff than appointing someone when you are capable of doing the paperwork yourself, as all that is needed when you are 'of sound mind' is an appointment with a solicitor rather than going through the court. One of my grandparents was diagnosed with dementia and our family had to go through getting power of attorney to administer her affairs and get her into appropriate care facilities, and the other two grandparents, upon seeing how much of a pain in the bum the attorney power was to get when going through the courts, both voluntarily signed the powers of attorney so that it would never be necessary. As a result of this we all hold powers of attorney for each other in my family, just in case it is ever needed. It is important that you actually do trust the person that you're appointing as attorney if you're doing this though, because the attorney could do things like emptying your bank account, cancelling cards, amending tax and benefit data and the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimay Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 A friend of mine has power of attorney over his mum. It took some setting up through a solicitor but basically in day to day terms my friend has control over his mum's bank account and can speak on her behalf at care meetings. My friend said he was glad his mum did it whilst she still had her wits about her as now she is suffering from Alyzeimers it would have been more complicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrodbo Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks for the info...I appreciate all the answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries22 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Power of attorney over somebody also stops the state from making you sell your home if you go into care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willman Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Power of attorney over somebody also stops the state from making you sell your home if you go into care. No it doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aries22 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 No it doesn't. Could you explain more please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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