Powers of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is an instrument which gives someone else power to manage your affairs. It can be limited to certain specific affairs (sometimes property owners give a Power to another to sell their house if they are going away on holiday) or general affairs, for example, giving power to the attorney to manage all their property and money, sign cheques and buy and sell assets.
The obvious advantage of this is when someone becomes mentally incapable because of dementia or brain damage (e.g. stroke or coma). Ordinary powers of attorney only last until the person becomes incapable. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) or an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) can survive mental incapacity and continue until the person recovers or dies.
Special and complicated procedures are required for LPAs and to be effective they must be registered at the Public Trust Office as soon as they are made. Before 1 October 2007 it was possible to make an EPA and these only have to be registered when the giver of the power (the ‘donor’) became incapable. EPAs made before 1 October 2007 remain valid and the old rules continue to apply to them. We can help you thorough the registration process for both types of Power.
We can help you through the rules which apply to either type of Power, Lasting or Enduring. In fact there are now two types of LPA, one which deals with money and property and the other which deals with personal wishes - for example the type of medical treatment you are given and the time when you are no longer able to make a decision about it and what your attorney should do in those circumstances.
You can have more than one attorney and you can decide whether they must agree on everything or whether they can operate independently. You can limit their powers to certain activities if you wish.