“Depending on the situation/circumstances, it may become necessary for you to apply for Power of attorney. This would mean you would be legally allowed to be in control of your parent/relative finances…..
Please see Power of Attorney which covers:
© Copyright 2019 Grief Probate Journey Blog *PLEASE NOTE THIS IS UK LAW*
1. Introduction
“Depending on the situation/circumstances, it may become necessary for you to apply for Power of attorney. This would mean you would be legally allowed to be in control of your parent/relative finances. This could be a permanent form of control, or temporary until the person is back to health and able to take back the control. (Please see Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney for further information. This link is also item 2.6 on this page).
2. Power of Attorney examples
2.1 “Power of Attorney = The authority to act for another person in specified or all legal or financial matters”.
“When you complete the legal documents called “power of attorney,” you give another person authority to handle your personal business and make decisions on your behalf. A person creates the power of attorney for use when he is incapacitated or otherwise unable to handle his own affairs”.
2.2 There are 2 types of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA):
2.3 Giving Someone Power of Attorney
“Putting in place a power of attorney can give you peace of mind that someone you trust is in charge of your affairs.
If you’re aged 18 or older and have the mental ability to make financial, property and medical decisions for yourself, you can arrange for someone else to make these decisions for you in the future. This legal authority is called “lasting power of attorney”.
The person who is given power of attorney is known as the “attorney” and must be over 18 years old. You are known as the “donor”.
2.3 Can you appoint more than one power of attorney?
“Yes. You can appoint more than one person to serve as your power of attorney representative. However, you should be sure to specify whether they can act individually or whether they must act jointly. … A simple power of attorney is valid only if you have the capacity to handle your own affairs”.
2.4 Do I need probate if I have power of attorney?
“The fact that you had Power of Attorney during someone’s lifetime doesn’t have any bearing on whether probate is needed after their death. If the deceased owned assets in their sole name and their Estate is worth over a certain amount, you will need to go through the Probate process.”
2.5 Is power of attorney still valid after death?
“Regular types of power of attorneys all terminate on death or incapacity — meaning that the agent can engage in legal business on behalf of the principal until the principal dies or is mentally incompetent to act on their own behalf. Once either of those events happens, the power of attorney is no longer valid“.11 Jul 2018.
2.6 Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney
3. Our Power of Attorney situation
Due to the condition of our Dad’s health, we were advised by the hospital staff to seek lasting power of attorney. Getting our Dad to agree to this was extremely difficult. In honesty, it was emotionally draining.
What we had to bear in mind is that It was also very difficult for our Dad, he went from being an independent man caring for himself his whole life, to that all changing in almost an instant.
As well as all the illnesses our Dad was suffering from, one of these was delirium (this will be a topic in our blog). This made things very difficult as during these times our Dad was not of sound mind. (However, something I came to realise is in his moments of delirium this is when we would hear exactly how he felt about being in that hospital. Hearing these things made us feel sad). Our Dad eventually agreed to sign, we were so relieved by this. (He had to do a fingerprint as he had lost his sight during his time in the hospital due to the Infective Endocarditis infection).
We sent off the forms, they were accepted. However, unfortunately, our Dad passed away which meant the power of attorney became invalid before we were able to handle his affairs. The next stage in this process for us was Probate. (This will be a topic in our blog).
Grief Probate Journey 
Is this UK law? I’m confused by your post. I thought POA could only be used when the Principal has lost capacity to make their own decisions. You say when the Principal has lost capacity the POA ends. Am I misunderstanding your post?
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Hi Cheryl, Yes, I can confirm this is UK Law.
I think maybe how I’ve written some parts might have been misunderstood.
It is correct Power of Attorney can only be used once the principal has lost capacity, however, it does not have to be permanent. This is where I have stated until the person is back to health and can take back control.
Power of Attorney automatically becomes void when the principal dies. However whilst they are alive, it needn’t be permanent.
Please see the following link (which is also on the page). https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
Under the End your lasting power of attorney section it will explain when the principal can take the control back.
Thank you for your comment, it has been useful for me. I will adapt what I have written so that hopefully it will be more clear.
I hope this has helped to clarify.
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