Information on Power of attorney and lasting power of attorney

Information on Power of attorney and lasting power of attorney

Sometimes we want to give another person the power to make a decision or to do things on our behalf. There can be many reasons for this. Perhaps you have a family and you are concerned about what would happen if you had an accident or you became seriously ill and were unable to make decisions for yourself. Perhaps you are living in another country, or travelling a lot and want to authorise somebody to act on your behalf while you are not in the UK.

If this is the case, then you may need a power of attorney. A Power of Attorney is a document which authorises someone else to sign documents, carry out instructions, enter contracts for you and generally sort things out for you. Your attorney is your authorised representative. There are basically two types of power of attorney - a Lasting Power of Attorney and a General Power of Attorney. The difference between them is that a Lasting Power of Attorney can be used if the donor (ie the person giving the powers to somebody else) is no longer mentally able (within the terms of the Mental Capacity Act 2005) to make decisions - for whatever reason. For example under a Lasting Power of Attorney, the attorney could make decisions if the donor of the power was mentally unable to make decisions as a result for example of being in a coma or suffering dementia. A general power of attorney can be used to do things that a person can legally do - so if he is not fit enough to make the decision the attorney cannot do it in his place.

But the General Power of Attorney would be suitable for someone who is living or travelling abroad or is busy and cannot get to the place he needs to be to sign documents, or he wishes someone else to to deal with a problem on his behalf. It allows the donor of the power to delegate someone else to act on his behalf and the terms can be limited to specific actions or be as general as you like,

A Lasting Power of Attorney has to be registered with the Office of Public Guardianship before it becomes effective and can be used. At the moment it is taking 14 weeks for the powers to be registered and become valid.

A General Power of Attorney is more informal and so long as it is signed as a deed it does not need to be registered at all. You just ask your solicitor to prepare the document and sign it in the presence of a witness and it is finished.

There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney - one relates to matters of health and personal welfare and the other to property and financial affairs. An attorney can be granted the power to make life sustaining decisions so these documents are of the upmost importance.

You should consult solicitors to obtain the best advice. You can include restrictions or limitations on the powers of attorney so that they are limited to the matter that is causing concern. But if you need a Lasting Power of Attorney (ie to cover the possibility of illness or injury) then act now - do not delay!

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