Lootman wrote:My children hold a power of attorney (POA) - actually a pre-2007 EPA - that enables them to act on my behalf where there is a need. They have never needed to so far.
All my bank and investment accounts are currently in my sole name. Would their POA still work if I added another person to my accounts, making them joint accounts? There is no POA for the added joint tenant.
My idea here is to allow such accounts to pass to the joint tenant without probate, upon my death. But would that affect the ability of my children to operate my accounts using their POA whilst I am still alive, since they would no longer be solely my accounts and assets?
Your EPA has already been activated? Three relatives correctly/officially notified ....etc. more usually done as you are losing or have lost capacity. Otherwise is just a piece of paper, unregistered, not actually activated.
I've no authority in such matters at all, but layman guess that your POA would only have authority over your half of a account moved into joint names as I believe moving a account from sole to joint is considered as a equal division - gifting of half of the account value of sorts. Which may still leave your estate value at a level where probate was mandated, i.e. gifts only become excluded from your estate after seven years.
No idea how banks actually manage that, I guess either those with POA or the joint holder could move/withdraw all of the funds. HMRC's CONNECT system however I suspect would pick up on that as it increasingly monitors deeper into each individuals activities. Apparently now has over 55 billion records so approaching 1000 items of data for each and every soul in the UK. And they have recently pushed banks to report each/any 'suspicious activity' ... or else risk losing their licence, such that banks are tending to flag all activities/transactions to add to the existing data that's being collected by the state. More recent law changes also enable them to record your internet activities as well. Such as me posting, you reading this post.
Nice to live in a free world where you're monitored everywhere you go, have all your actions tracked, and where they might even AI your thoughts/beliefs. When others no where all 'your' money is, its no longer yours, its just a loan, open to be confiscated at any time by the lender. Yet in the main we've slept walked into allowing it to happen, more usually on the basis that the powers were needed in order to catch criminals. But to a extent where nowadays each/anyone could be deemed to be a criminal such is the depth/breadth of the civil and financial (HMRC tax law book) laws nowadays. So the ultimate solution was everyone was branded a criminal (one way or another), living in a Open Prison, with the option to selectively lock up the more extreme cases or whoever else they might choose. All implemented/imposed with hardly a murmur of resistance/complaint.