Current account with three signatories?

I used to be Vice-President of Chester Rotaract (part of Rotary). We had an account at NatWest which had 3 signatories, where any withdrawal had to have 2 of the 3.

HTH

Pete.

In message , Pete Smith writes

Thats not the same thing at all. The account you describe was a club account.

In message , Mike Gayler writes

I'm not sure why you are doing this. Why three people holding an account? This means each holder owns the account fully.

Why not just get an (enduring) power of attorney which will enable the two daughters to act jointly on the existing account. Putting it in joint names gets you nowhere at all.

I used to be Vice-President of Chester Rotaract (part of Rotary). We had an account at NatWest which had 3 signatories, where any withdrawal had to have 2 of the 3.

HTH

Pete.

The OP didn't, I think, wish to require the two daughters to act jointly, rather any one of the three persons (i.e. the account holder plus two designated signatories) should be able to sign cheques or orders. They also want to be able to get cash out of a wall.

But I agree, there is no need to change the account name. The money will continue to belong exclusively to the mother, it's just that the daughters will also have access to it.

Can you explain in what way a POA (and EPOA, if different) differs from authority to sign? Does EPOA "endure" beyond death? I gather that normally a mere ATS extinguishes with a sole account holder's death and the account is frozen until probate is granted. That could of course be circumvented by having a joint account on which either party could draw.

No problem, make the PoA 'any one from this lot'

A POA can cover other things than bank account.

No, but it can exist after the onset of mental incapacity by the grantor, which a normal PoA, and am 'authority to sign' wont.

Snag here is that the dosh in the account will then vest in the surviving account holders which may not be to the deceased's wishes. Also, in lifetime the other joint holders have a claim to the cash and it is counted as being 'theirs' which cold be complicated if THEY die, or get sued, or go bankrupt, or get divorced....

Is that just the default provision, or is it impossible to get authority to sign which endures beyond death? I ask because I happen to know that in Germany this is not only possible, but apparently the norm.

That does provide a convenient shortcut around probate, and, where applicable, avoids the need to take a loan to pay IHT, because the accounts which contain enough dosh to pay the tax are frozen, and remain frozen because probate isn't granted until the pound of flesh is in the taxman's till.

To the best of my knowledge a Power of Attorney can not continue after death in any circumstances in this country.

To me and my befuddled brain, having an attorney who can act after death is a contradiction in terms.

Not quite true. An executor has discretion to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, provided they agree. Deed of Variation and all that.

So the similarity is that both can (and should) do what is best, always presuming that integrity is part of the unwritten job description.

I have a joint current account with 3 signatories (NatWest). Where each of us can do anything with the account without getting signatures from the other. There was a choice when we signed up whether we wanted all 3 of us to sign to withdraw etc or not. But then again, you probably know that.