POWERS OF ATTORNEY

General Powers of Attorney

General Powers of Attorney can be prepared for someone to deal with your affairs, either generally or for a specific transaction, such as the sale of a house. The Attorney's authority ends should you lose or begin to lose your mental capacity. Costs are from £75 plus VAT.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

These documents gives the Attorney power to deal with your affairs should you lose or begin to lose your mental capacity but the documents must already have been prepared otherwise it is too late! It is a bit like an insurance policy; for instance, if you did not have house contents insurance and were burgled, you couldn’t get insured for what had just been stolen.

There are two different Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPOA); one for Property and Affairs and one for Personal Welfare. The latter gives the Attorney the ability to make personal welfare decisions, such as whether to accept or refuse medical treatment on your behalf, or negotiate with social services about where you should live. The former is more-or-less a direct replacement for the old "Enduring Powers of Attorney" that were abolished in October 2007 following implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and give power for the Attorney to deal with financial affairs and property.

Both forms are quite lengthy and come in 3 parts –

Part A– The donors statement (this is you) and details of the Attorney you are appointing.

Part B– The certificate. Before the document becomes valid, a "Certificate Provider" has to interview you and make sure you completely understand the document you are making, why you are making it and make sure you are aware of what the Attorney can do should you be unable to make decisions for yourself.

Part C– The Attorney's or replacement Attorney's statements. The Attorney also has to be aware of what they are being asked to do and their obligations should they ever be called upon.