Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney

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

• a General Power of Attorney; and
• a Lasting Power of Attorney

 What is a Power of Attorney?

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

• A General Power of Attorney (GPA) provides a quite straightforward authorisation for any general purposes or a specific event for a limited period of time. It can be used to deal with your financial affairs. 
  
  
• a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) confers the Donor's authorisation for the Attorney to cover the contingency of the Donor being incapable of making a decision. The formality and procedure are quite different from of those required for a GPA which is automatically revoked if the Donor becomes mentally incapable.
  
  
• There are two types of LPA. The first one relates to one's Property & Financial Affairs and the second one to one's Health & Welfare which empowers the Attorneys to make decisions regarding one's general personal welfare inckuding (if the Donor so elects in the LPA) decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment for the Donor.

When the Donor of an LPA whilst still retaining his mental capacity is suddenly unable to make certain decisions, for example, being ill in hospital or experiencing an unforeseen accident, an LPA will be a safeguard mechanism to rescue the situation for those concerned. It gives everybody including the rest of the Donor's family members peace of mind that the matters are well looked after at the time that he/she is unable to make decisions.

Do I need a Power of Attorney?

You might need a GPA in order to authorise some of your family members to do something on your behalf, for instance when you are away from your home or workplace. Compared to that an LPA  will be useful when you are incapable of dealing with very important personal matters such as mortgage, business interests, etc. due to serious illness or mental incapacity.

How much does it cost?

For a GPA the price is from £125.00 depending on the matter. For an LPA the cost is £350.00 for a single LPA or £500.00 for a pair of LPA's. In either case, we will arrange an appointment with a legal specialist to take the instructions from you. 

A draft will be provided to you and further consultation will be carried out to make sure that the draft fully reflects your wishes.

Finally, we'll arrange the registration of your LPA{s) with the Office of the Public Guardian for which there is a Registration fee of £82 for each LPA.