What is a Power of Attorney? A document through which you grant authority to your chosen Attorney to act on your behalf at any time in connection with issues and subject to conditions set out within the Power.

There are different types of Power:

General Power

This power allows your appointed Attorney to deal with and/or administer general matters of your estate.

Specific Power

This Power, as the name suggests, restricts the Attorney's power to specific matters or assets of the estate.

Both of the above powers are usually granted during your lifetime when you are usually unavailable or unable to act on your own behalf. They can be terminated at any time.

Enduring Power of Attorney

The General and Specific Powers have relatively short life spans. As a result, they have no effect if you experience a long-term mental or physical disability that prevents you from dealing with or administering your own personal affairs and naturally expire on your death.

In order to prepare for such an eventuality we execute an Enduring Power of Attorney. Unlike the above, an EPO does not expire on you sustaining such a disability or dying. It continues subject to it being registered with the Court of Protection and allows your appointed Attorney to administer your affairs even after the above.

But See Below:

Lasting Powers of Attorney

Changes to the system from 1 st October 2007

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is was fully implemented in England and Wales on the 1 st October 2007. The Act introduces a number of changes in the way:

•  People can plan ahead for a time when they may not have mental capacity

•  Decisions are made on behalf of people who lack mental capacity

One of these changes is that from the 1 st October 2007 Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) can no longer be made. Instead, they will be replaced with a revised type of power called a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

The changes introduced on the 1 st October 2007 should not prevent you from taking the necessary action now to plan for the future.

•  Properly executed EPAs made prior to the 1 st October 2007, will continue to be valid after that date, both for registered or unregistered use.

•  After the 1 st October 2007 the donor can revoke an existing EPA and replace it with an LPA if they have the necessary mental capacity to do so. However, the donor does not    have to take this course of action, if they do not wish to do so.

•  A donor may have already executed an EPA with which they are happy. However, after the 1 st October 2007, if they have the necessary mental capacity, you can execute an    LPA as well to cover personal welfare issues or to cover financial issues.

An LPA will, like an EPA, allow a donor to nominate one or more attorneys to make decisions should they lose the mental capacity to do so themselves. The donor will be able to make two types of LPA:

•  Property and affairs, similar to an EPA

•  Personal welfare, which can include provisions for giving or refusing consent to medical treatment in circumstances where the donor has lost the capacity to make such    decisions themselves.

In all instances, the appointed Attorney would usually be your spouse, civil partner, business partner, Solicitor or Accountant.