Children of elderly parents are finding exercising a power of attorney is far from straightforward.

Britain's banks and building societies are the "weak link" that is making it all but impossible for the children of elderly parents to sort out their financial affairs.
Caroline Bielanska, chief executive of Solicitors for the Elderly, said that families struggle to register their power of attorney (PoA) with the financial institutions that hold their parents' or grandparents' accounts, because staff are untrained.

"They don't understand the documents that have to be seen, and the chances of it going wrong are quite high," she said.

The Telegraph's own consumer champion, Jessica Gorst-Williams, said that Britain's banks and building societies are "making it more difficult for people at a difficult time". She receives many letters from customers struggling to register their PoA, because banks refuse to accept their form of identification or pass applicants from department to department.

The problem stems from a recent requirement for new Lasting Powers of Attorney (also known as Living Wills) to be registered with the Office for the Public Guardian. This, together with an ageing population, has led to a deluge of applications. There are currently two forms of PoA which operate under different rules, which compounds the..........Click HERE to read more