A power of attorney is a binding legal document, one that effectively allows someone you designate to make certain types of decisions and act on your behalf. Powers of attorney are generally used if you cannot work for yourself or do not want to act for yourself.

There are many reasons why you may choose to do one, such as being out of the country or hospitalized for an extended period and you need someone to take care of your assets while you are away; or to protect yourself and your assets in case you lose your mental capacity.

However, many of us put off this work due to, among other things, certain misconceptions.

This article aims to debunk some of the most common misconceptions about a power of attorney.

Misconception one: attorneys, once nominated, can’t do what they want

This is one of the main fears people have about giving someone else control of their assets. However, it is completely unfounded as lawyers are very restricted in what they can and cannot do.

There are various checks and balances to ensure that a lawyer does not abuse his position, including a set of rules on how to record the power of attorney so that it can be used at all.

The first set of restrictions comes from you. When creating a power of attorney, specifically a durable power of attorney, there is the opportunity to put as many or few restrictions on your attorneys. For example, if you are establishing a durable power of attorney, to allow our relative to take care of his finances in case he loses capacity, you can clearly indicate on the paperwork that while his attorneys can do X, Y, and Z, they cannot. sell your house, or they must decide together before spending more than £ X.

The second set of restrictions comes from the Office of the Public Guardian, which sets clear rules on how an attorney must conduct himself, including preventing him from acting outside of the power of attorney and ensuring that he always acts in the best interest of the donor.

Misconception two: You must use the power the moment it is done, or you cannot make a power until you know you will need it soon.

Many of us put off this work because we are not in the position where we need it now or (that we know of) in the imminent future.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t always give you warnings and powers aren’t just for older people who may have concerns about dementia. Anything can happen that could make you need a lawyer right away, including a sudden and unexpected hospital admission, an unplanned trip out of the country, or, tragically, an accident that causes you to lose capacity.

It is advisable to create a power of attorney long before it is needed, especially a durable power of attorney (expressly designed for a loss of capacity).

It is entirely possible to write and sign a durable power of attorney, but keep it until you need or want to use it. This is because for a durable power of attorney to be used, it must be registered until it is registered; it is just a sheet of paper without power or purpose, and it can remain in a drawer until needed.

You can easily create and sign a durable power of attorney in your 30s and not register it until you need it in your 70s.

Misconception three: you can wait until someone loses the capacity before making a durable power of attorney

This is related to the misconception above and is completely wrong. Making this mistake can cost you and your loved one thousands of pounds.

To make a durable power of attorney or general power of attorney, the person making it must have capacity. There is no way around this. If you lose capacity, you cannot make a power of attorney and your loved ones must apply for what is called a guardianship of you and your property, which costs more than a thousand pounds and takes several months to resolve.

Considering that you could put together a power of attorney yourself for free or use a lawyer for £ 200 (depending on the company, shop around), it should be obvious that this is the superior document.

It’s also worth noting that if you make a general power and then lose capacity, your general power loses all its power. If you had made a durable power of attorney when you had capacity and subsequently lose capacity, your attorneys can register the durable power of attorney with the Public Guardian’s Office right away and start helping you with your finances and care.

Misconception number four: a power of attorney is for life

This is simply not true.

There are different types of Power of Attorney, Durable and General. Lasting powers (you may have guessed from the name) are usually long-term. However, a general power of attorney is not.

A general power of attorney is a document that you can set up to allow someone to take care of your business while you cannot, if, for example, you are out of the country, hospitalized for a few months, or cannot leave the country. home for a while. A general power of attorney gives another person the authority to act on your behalf for a particular reason, to perform a specific task, or for a specific period of time. As soon as you are able to manage your affairs again, you can destroy the general power.

Misconception five: you can only have one lawyer

The role of attorney is sometimes challenging and there is a lot of responsibility.

So instead of putting all that responsibility on one person, you can spread it by having more than one attorney. This second person is called a joint attorney.

You can appoint any number of attorneys in the same power of attorney and you can specify whether they can act on their own separately or whether they must cooperate and join together to decide. You can have them act together on some matters, such as the sale of property, but have them work individually on all other matters, there is a lot of flexibility and it is entirely up to you.

conclusion

In conclusion, there is a lot to consider when making a power of attorney, but it is not a decision that should be postponed.