Lasting Powers of Attorney

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document which allows you to appoint a person (usually someone close to you or a professional) to deal with your affairs should you no longer wish to or become unable to do so in the future. The person you appoint is called an Attorney. You may appoint more than one person to be an Attorney. There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney

The Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney gives your Attorney/s authority to access your money to pay your bills or to sell your property should you need to raise cash to pay for care for example. You can impose conditions and restrictions on your Attorneys if there are things you would rather they did or didn’t do.

Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney

The Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney allows your Attorney/s to make decisions about your personal welfare such as medical treatment. You may want this if you have complicated family circumstances and you feel that your relatives may argue if they were asked by a medical professional to make a decision for you. A Lasting Power of Attorney can be used if you have specific wishes that you would like to be respected should you need life-saving treatment. This type of Lasting Power of Attorney can only be used to make decisions on your behalf if you lack mental capacity to do so yourself.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (or the old form ‘Enduring Power of Attorney’) cannot be used until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

Ordinary Power of Attorney

This can be used for a specific purpose or time. For example, if you are going abroad and you are in the process of trying to sell a property you could use an Ordinary Power of Attorney to authorise a person to sign the documentation whilst you are away.

Deciding to give someone the power to make decisions on your behalf is an important decision to make and we at Nicholsons Solicitors are able to provide you with expert guidance and advice in reaching your decision.

If you would like help putting a Power of Attorney in place, please do not hesitate to contact of our team on 01502 532 300 or email admin@nicholsonslaw.com.