Time for belt AND braces!

The demand for Lasting Powers of Attorney has never been greater

More and more people are looking to set up Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) with the threat of Covid-19 being ever present. In particular, those who form part of the most at risk groups and so are having to self-isolate, and who may need to rely on friends and family members to act on their behalf in regards to their finances.

Unfortunately, the current timing of eight to ten weeks to get a Lasting Power of Attorney registered is not helping matters for our clients and the likelihood that this timeline will increase because of the pandemic is pretty much a certainty.

So, what can we do to help?

The best way we can help our clients would be to offer our clients a “BELT & BRACES” strategy by drafting a second GENERAL (or Ordinary) Power of Attorney for our clients, at the same time as taking their instruction for their Lasting Powers of Attorney, which provides them with this protection whilst waiting for the LPA to be registered and returned by the OPG. This means your clients can benefit from being able to provide their Attorneys with the authority to act on their behalf immediately.

What does a General Power of Attorney do for your clients?

A General (Ordinary) Power of Attorney allows one or more person, known as the attorney(s), to make financial decisions on your client’s behalf. It's only valid while they still have the mental capacity to make their own decisions.

It is useful when:

• Your clients need someone to act for them for a temporary period, such as when on holiday or in hospital or currently having to self-isolate.
• They are unable to get out and about to the bank or post office and want someone to be able to access their account(s) for them.
• They want someone to act for them while still able to supervise their actions.

Witnessing

A General Power of Attorney will need to be signed by the donor in the presence of an independent witness (NOT an attorney) such as a friend, neighbour or relative.

This poses certain difficulties in the current environment but whilst we wait for the law to change there are many suggestions being made to work around this and remain compliant such as having documents witnessed by a friend or neighbour:

• over the garden fence
• through a window

The point is, however this is achieved as long as everyone can see everyone else, then the document is valid.