Lasting Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney (called the Power) is a document whereby a person (called the Donor) gives to another person(s) (called the Attorney) the power to act on the Donor’s behalf in respect of the Donor’s affairs.

As a very general rule there are two different types of Powers. These are:

• a General Power of Attorney; or
• a Lasting Power of Attorney.

General Power of Attorney
This can just be a few lines giving the Attorney very wide powers over all of the Donor’s affairs or a much larger document limited to a specific task with binding instructions as to how that task should be performed.  The drawback with this type of Power is :-

1. they only remain in force while the Donor retains sufficient mental capacity to conduct their own affairs;
2. after a period of twelve months a third party relying on the Attorney can insist upon evidence that the Power has not been revoked during the intervening period.

Lasting Power of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney lasts for the lifetime of the Donor irrespective of their mental capacity and enables an Attorney to care for the Donor at their most vulnerable times of life.  For instance if someone had an accident and can no longer conduct their own affairs, if there was a Lasting Power of Attorney in force, the Attorney could continue to conduct those affairs as if he was the Donor.  The most usual purpose for the Lasting Power of Attorney is for the child to care for the parent during the latter days of their life where they might be suffering from something like Alzheimer’s.

Please contact us if you require any further information regarding Powers of Attorney or would wish to create one.

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