property & legal

Many of us make plans for death and protecting our loved ones including life insurance, spouse and dependent pensions, trusts and Wills but most of us do not think about or have made no plans if we become unable to look after our affairs.

What is a Power of Attorney (POA)?

A Power of Attorney is a legal document appointing someone to look after your affairs in certain events.  This can be for things such as property abroad or in another part of the country or it may be that you are going overseas and need somebody to look after your affairs in this country.

Should I have a Power of Attorney?

We believe everybody should have a Power of Attorney in place just in case you become unable to look after your affairs e.g. you become physically incapacitated or indeed your mental health deteriorates. This may seem extreme and unlikely, but it affects thousands of people every year and is a must for us all. Failure to have this simple appointment letter done could place immense difficulties on your loved ones and even mean going to court to have a person appointed to look after your affairs.

Before moving on, it may be helpful for you to understand the two following terms:

Donor – the person who grants power over their affairs.
Attorney – the person, group of people or company appointed by the donor to look after their affairs. 

There are basically two types of Power of Attorney:

• Ordinary Power of Attorney
• Lasting Power of Attorney (formerly an Enduring Power of Attorney).

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