What is a Power of Attorney?
A power of attorney is a legal document signed by a person (the donor), which grants a named individual/s or trust corporation (the attorney/s) to act on your behalf. As a donor, you should only appoint people you trust, because they will have the legal right to make decisions on your behalf, and to act for you in relation to your property and finances and/or health and welfare decisions.
There are various types of power of attorney documents, including lasting powers of attorney, enduring powers of attorney and general powers of attorney.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
Property and Affairs LPA
A property and financial affairs LPA will name an attorney/s to act on your behalf in relation to your property and finances. This would enable them to help with matters such as paying bills, buying / selling property, and accessing your bank accounts. Provided you have mental capacity, your attorneys can use the LPA with your consent to help you day to day. If you were to lose mental capacity your Attorney would help manage your finances and property affairs, and take over entirely if you were totally incapacitated.
Health and Welfare LPA
A Health and Welfare LPA once signed would enable your attorneys to make decisions for you in relation to your health and personal welfare. This could include decisions about your care, medications you receive, surgery and where you live. They may also be appointed to deal with issues regarding life sustaining treatment on your behalf. This LPA can only be used if you have lost mental capacity, and not before.
To make an LPA, the donor must have sufficient mental capacity to grant the necessary consents. Once the LPA is signed by the Donor, Attorney/s, and certificate provider (such as a Solicitor), it must then be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.
What happens without having an LPA?
If an individual has lost their mental capacity and did not make a power of attorney, their loved ones may need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy in order to make decisions on their behalf. The court may also appoint someone whom the Donor has not chosen to act for them, which makes having an LPA essential to most of our clients as that would generally avoid such issues.
Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA)
An EPA is a power of attorney which was commonly used before 2007 but became redundant once LPAs were introduced to replace them on 30 October 2007. Validly executed EPAs signed before that date remain valid, however no new EPAs can be made. You cannot update or amend an EPA, you would need to prepare and sign a new LPA.
EPAs only deal with property and financial affairs and not health and welfare decisions. An EPA can be used without having been registered, provided the donor still has mental capacity. As soon as the Attorney/s believe the donor is mentally incapable/becoming mentally incapable, the EPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian which is something we can assist with as and when required.
GPA
A general power of attorney, also known as ordinary power of attorney, is a legal document granting the attorney the right to help the donor to make decisions on their behalf. It can only be used if the donor has mental capacity. A general power of attorney would commonly be used during periods of technical difficulty in the Donor’s ability to manage their affairs. Illness, injury and long distance travel abroad are some examples of situations which could lead to such difficulties, making the general LPA a useful document in such circumstances.
Ambrose Crookes Solicitors are experts in preparing Power of Attorney documents to suit your needs. We offer a free consultation without any obligations and encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or require any further assistance.