Assisting someone with their money
Table of contents
Understanding third party access
Third party access relates to different ways of giving another person access to your accounts and the right to operate it. The type of access you need will depend on your circumstances and the assistance you require.
| Example of M&S Bank customer's circumstances | Ordinary/ general/ specific power of attorney | Lasting/ enduring/ continuing power of attorney | Court of protection order | Department of work and pensions | Guardianship order | Third party Mandate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| You are going abroad and won’t have access to accounts | ||||||
| You are physically ill, injured or disabled which limit your ability to access account services | ||||||
| You are preparing for a time when you may lose mental capacity | ||||||
| You have lost mental capacity | Only applicable if set up before loss of mental capacity | If a lasting or enduring power of attorney had not been set up prior to loss of mental capacity | If a lasting or enduring power of attorney had not been set up prior to loss of mental capacity | |||
| The customer is a missing persons |
Types of third party access
Setting up a power of attorney or Court of Protection Order with M&S Bank
Once you have obtained the power of attorney or Court of Protection Order documentation from the Office of Public Guardian or your solicitor, you will need to share the documentation with us to allow us to set up the relevant access to your accounts.
Mental capacity
Mental capacity can be thought of as the ability to make your own decisions. You can find more information about mental capacity and about the practical application of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act on the NHS website.
As an attorney, you may need to support someone you know who has lost the capacity to deal with their financial affairs. These pages will provide you with information and links which you may find useful.
Mental health problems can affect the way a person thinks, feels and behaves.
If you want to register a power of attorney with us, if you are the attorney, we will ask you whether the customer (donor) retains the capacity to manage his/her financial affairs.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005
For the purposes of this Act, a person lacks capacity in relation to a matter if at the material time he/she is unable to make a decision for themselves in relation to the matter because of an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain'.
It also states 'a person is unable to make a decision for themselves if he/she is unable –
- to understand the information relevant to the decision,
- to retain that information,
- to use or weigh that information as part of the process of making the decision, or
- to communicate his/her decision (whether by talking, using sign language or any other means)'.
More information can be found under Mental Capacity Act 2005.
What a third party can do
A third party can help make decisions about someone's finances, or make decisions on their behalf.
| Ordinary/ General/ Specific power of attorney | Lasting/ Enduring/ Continuing power of attorney | Court of protection order | Department of work and pensions | Guardianship order | Third party Mandate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manage donor's account/s if mental capacity is lost | ||||||
| Make payments / withdraw cash | ||||||
| Pay in cash/cheques | ||||||
| Order a replacement credit card/PIN | ||||||
| Order a statement | ||||||
| Set up/amend/cancel standing orders and Direct Debits | ||||||
| Access Telephone Banking | ||||||
| Access Internet Banking* | ||||||
| Change account address | ||||||
| Apply for additional savings account. No additional borrowing will be allowed. | ||||||
| Close the account | ||||||
| Obtain information regarding the account |
*only one person can access Internet banking on a sole account. Therefore, either one attorney or the account holder can have internet banking access, not both.