Enduring Power of Attorney

[cymruambyth]

Hi

Does anyone know anything about EPAs?

About 6 years ago my father completed an EPA in case it was needed. It is not needed! It is all signed etc and we have certified copies from the solicitor.
It has not been registered with the court, can my father get in touch with the solicitor and revoke this EPA? He wants his cc but isn't allowed them as he is vulnerable, so he is threatening to speak to the solicitor. We are trying not to get it registered with the court, but if necessary we will start the court process this week.

Thank you

[garlok]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney

Hi cymru,

First of all if the ePA has not been registered with the court, then basically I understand it to be invalid. Therein lies the rub. There is no longer any such thing as an Enduring Power of Attorney. These have been replaced with something called a Lasting Power of Attorney, unfortunately there are now two. One is for the unfortunate person's financial affairs, the other is for that person's health and welfare.

Because so much fraud has been committed in the past the rules have been changed and the forms for LPAs are complex, I mean complex for the lay person and can catch you out. The best thing in my view is to have these drawn up by a solicitor and then they can also represent you in the event of disputes with banks and the like or troubles with recalcitrant family members which sadly does happen.

However you say that and EPA exists but not registered from a while ago, as it has not been validated by the court, it is perfectly possible that he may have to be assessed to check whether he is capable of making the decision to appoint and sign LPAs. I underestand that this is a very difficult and sensitive subject for anyone who has to deal with such matters but it really is worthwhile getting it all sewn up properly as early as possible.

My thoughts on this are that you state that he is classified as being vulnerable, that may, repeat may, render him incapable of being compus mentus to sign the LPAs.

Professional advice is very worthwhile in these circumstances and often a talk with the dreaded social workers can throw light on officaldom's attitude without intial formality if you know what I mean.

regards
Garlok

[cymruambyth]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney

hi garlok

Thanks for the reply. Luckily the EPA was completed before the law changed and can still be registered under the old conditions, not the new. I think we are just going to start the process ...... as horrible as it seems, I think we need to recognise and act on the situation before any further problems occur.
Having just had about 5 phone calls in 10 minutes at work, he is deteriorating.

[garlok]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney

In that case cymru, I would get it sorted --toute suite. These new rules are a real pain. I have said it before, my elder brother who is legally trained had some difficulty in sorting it all out for his partner and even then he had it vetted by his solicitor currently still practising fortunately.

regards
Garlok

[BBoo]

Re: Enduring Power of Attorney

Agree, you need to register it with the Office of the Public Guardian as soon as you can.

The problem usually here is that the more the person loses their mental capacity, the more they resist any POA.