A power of attorney document is a legal document which allows you to appoint named individuals to act on your behalf. There are various types of power of attorney documents that can be prepared, and each one has a different process of how it is registered and/or used. You need to be of sound mind to prepare a power of attorney document. Should an individual lack mental capacity (not be of sound mind) then an individual, perhaps a family member or solicitor would need to apply to the Court of Protection. Please see our page on Court of Matter enquiries here.
The different types of power of attorney documents are:
Enduring Power of Attorney
An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) would need to have been prepared before 31 October 2007. EPA documents only cover the financial affairs of the donor and should be registered only when the donor (the person who prepared/signed the document) is starting to lose their mental capacity or has lost mental capacity. At this point, the attorney (the person named to act) has a responsibility to register the EPA document with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). We specialise lawyers can assist with the registration process for a fixed fee, which involves completing application documents, notification documents and submitting the original EPA to OPG, for registration.
Lasting Powers of Attorney
The most common type of power of attorney document is called a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). There are two types of LPA that can be prepared; a property and financial affairs LPA, as well as a health and welfare LPA. Both documents would appoint people to act on your behalf (known as attorneys). The property and financial affairs LPA would allow your named attorneys to act in relation to all of your financial affairs; for example, dealing with property issues such as buying and selling property, settling invoices, paying for care, access to bank accounts etc. The health and welfare LPA would allow your named attorneys to make welfare decisions on your behalf; for example, arranging care, consenting to medication, surgery and treatment and also life-sustaining treatment. The health and welfare attorneys can only use the document when you cannot make a specific decision yourself. The property and financial affairs LPA can be used whilst you are still of sound mind, but only with your consent, as well as when you are not of sound mind.
Both LPAs need to be registered before they can be used. Our expert lawyers can assist with the full package of preparing, signing, witnessing, and registering the LPA documents for an agreed fixed fee.
General Power of Attorney
A general power of attorney is a simple power of attorney document which again appoints named individuals to act on your behalf, but only when you are of sound mind; for example, if you are out of the country or have physical injury. A general power of attorney does not need to be registered and is active upon execution.
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