Life Events: Power of Attorney and bereavement

Power of Attorney

Giving someone else access to your mortgage account and the right to operate it is an important decision to take, especially if there has been a change in your health or a change in your circumstances. Taking this decision can come at a stressful time for you, your family and friends so we help make it as easy and straightforward as possible to register your decision with us.

The most common reasons for a Power of Attorney are:

You’ve become incapacitated following an accident
You’re suffering from ill-health
You’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness such as dementia
You’re living abroad

Your options in more detail

General or Ordinary Power of Attorney (POA) - A General POA is drawn up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and an Ordinary POA is drawn up in Scotland.

These types of POA can be added where you or a Donor (the person granting the durable POA form over their own affairs) still has the mental capacity to deal with their finances but is unable to because of, e.g.

Physical illness or injury
Time spent in prison
Time spent abroad for a long period of time.

Customers that have been diagnosed with an illness or have an injury that may affect their mental capacity should not use this type of POA as General and Ordinary POAs are terminated when a Donor loses mental capacity. It also does not cover the customer’s personal health and welfare.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) - LPAs are drawn up in England and Wales. They allow a representative(s) to manage a customer’s personal welfare and/or property and financial affairs.

We are only able to accept a LPA that gives an Attorney the power to manage a Donor’s financial affairs. The Donor can continue to operate their accounts as well as the Attorney unless they lose mental capacity*.

An LPA must be drawn up while the Donor still has mental capacity and must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it is registered with the AMC.

*We will require the Lasting Power of Attorney(s) to provide relevant identity and verification evidence and a completed Key Account Party form.

Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) - EPAs were drawn up in England, Wales and still are in Northern Ireland.

No new EPAs have been granted in England and Wales since 1 October 2007, however customers in Northern Ireland can still apply for an EPA. You are still able to register EPAs drawn up in England and Wales before 1 October 2007 as long as they are still valid.

An EPA grants the Attorney access to manage the Donor’s financial affairs while they have mental capacity and, if registered with the OPG, can also continue if the Donor loses mental capacity.

Where a Donor loses mental capacity before an EPA is registered with the bank, the Attorney can continue to use it by registering it with the OPG. The registration fee for this can be found on the website for the OPG.

Continuing Power of Attorney (CPA) - CPAs are issued in Scotland. They allow an Attorney to take care of the Granter’s (the person who grants a CPA) day to day finances, depending on the wording in the document.

Examples of day to day finances are:

Pay bills
Manage Bank accounts
Collect benefits
Buy or sell property.

A CPA grants the Attorney access to manage the Granter’s financial affairs while they have mental capacity and stays in place if the Granter loses mental capacity.

The CPA is drawn up by the Granter and they are able to choose whether the Attorney has immediate access, or whether access is granted at a later date or when the Granter loses mental capacity.

Bereavement

It is often difficult to deal with the accounts and finances of someone who has recently passed away. We are here to help you through these difficult times.

The quickest way to let us know if you’ve lost someone and to discuss your individual circumstance and requirements is to call our Security Amendments team on 02077 143630 and they will talk you through what happens next.

If you are planning to take over the running of the business, we can talk you through how your family’s loan can be passed on to you.

Once you have a certified copy of the Death Certificate and/or Grant of Probate, please email this to our Security Amendments team at securityamendments@amcplc.com

Alternatively, we are happy to liaise direct with your solicitor if you prefer.