Advantages of a General Power of Attorney

Are you currently self-isolating and need someone to manage your affairs for you? If so, it may be time to consider preparing Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Lasting Powers of Attorney are documents which allow you to appoint individuals, known as your attorneys, to act on your behalf and to make decisions for you.

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney: Property and Financial Affairs and Health and Welfare. You can only make these documents when you have mental capacity to do so and they must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used which can take approximately 8 – 10 weeks.

Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Powers of Attorney allow your attorneys to manage the financial aspects of your life, such as deal with your bank accounts, pay your bills and even sell your property. If you have capacity, with your permission, your Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney can be used by your attorneys as soon as it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

Health and Welfare Lasting Powers of Attorney allow your attorneys to make decisions about your health and care needs including what medical treatment you may require, your day to day care and where you live. Due to the personal decisions which your attorneys may need to make, they can only start making decisions in relation to your Health and Welfare when you have lost mental capacity.

As it can take as long as 3 months to put Lasting Powers of Attorney in place, we would recommend preparing a General Power of Attorney which will allow your attorneys to act for you in the meantime. A General Power of Attorney is only valid for 12 months and cannot be used if you lose capacity. However, it can be used by your attorneys straight away without registration. Therefore, we would suggest preparing a General Power of Attorney alongside Lasting Powers of Attorney to allow your attorneys to manage your affairs whilst your Lasting Powers of Attorney are being registered.

Our Wills and Trust Department are continuing to work from home and can assist you with preparing Lasting Powers of Attorney or a General Power of Attorney over the telephone.

Please contact our New Client Co-ordinators on 01752 663295 to arrange a telephone or video call appointment with a member of our specialist team.