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06
Apr 2020
General Powers of Attorney
A General Power of Attorney is a document which can give authority to one person or more (called the Attorney(s)) to make financial decisions on behalf of another (the donor).
A General Power of Attorney ceases to have effect when the donor of the Power loses mental capacity, which means that the Attorney(s) appointed by the Power are no longer able to act at the moment when the Power is most needed. For this reason, Lasting Powers of Attorney are more useful as they can continue to be used when the donor has lost mental capacity.
The problem with a Lasting Power of Attorney is that the document must be registered before it can be used. The registration of Lasting Powers of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian takes around 8 – 10 weeks. In these current circumstances, it may be that an individual requires assistance from a family member with their financial affairs immediately. We would therefore strongly recommend that a General Power of Attorney is put in place as an interim measure whilst waiting for Lasting Powers of Attorney to be registered.
We can assist you in preparing both the General Power of Attorney and Lasting Powers of Attorney. Contact our private client team on 0800 015 0340 to discuss Powers of Attorney in further detail.
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