Power of Attorney
Trusts and Estate Planning in Newbridge

Power of Attorney 
writing services based in Newbridge

If you need help with Wills and Estate planning our advisers at Personal Wealth Management work closely with suitably qualified Professionals to help meet your needs and protect your estate for the benefit of your loved ones.
 Call us today.
Please note: Conveyancing, Wills and trust writing services are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

The demand for Lasting Powers of Attorney has never been greater than now with the threat of Covid-19. Those people in the ‘most at risk’ groups, who have to self-isolate may need to rely on friends and family members to act on their behalf with regards to their finances. It is these individuals who are finding certain activities a real struggle without this power of attorney in place. 
 
It currently takes eight to ten weeks to register a Lasting Power of Attorney, which does not help matters and the likelihood that this timeline will increase due to the pandemic is pretty much a certainty. 

So, what can we do to help? 
  
The best way we can help in these difficult times is to “DOUBLE UP” . This means that in addition to taking your instruction to set up the Last Power of Attorney (LPA), we can also quickly draft a GENERAL (or Ordinary) Power of Attorney for you at the same time.
 
This means that that you can benefit from being able to provide your attorneys with the authority to act on their behalf immediately, whilst they wait for the LPA to be registered (8-10 weeks) and returned from the Office of Public Guardian (OPG). 

What does a General Power of Attorney do? 
 
A General (Ordinary) Power of Attorney allows one or more person(s), known as the attorney(s), to make financial decisions on your behalf. It is only valid while you still have the mental capacity to make your own decisions. 
 
It is useful when: 
  • You need someone to act for you for a temporary period, such as when on holiday, or in hospital, or currently having to self-isolate.
  • You are unable to get out and about to the bank or post office and want someone to be able to access your account for you. 
  • You want someone to act for you, but still want 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 possible ways to work around this and remain compliant, e.g. such as having documents witnessed by a friend or neighbour, either: 
 
* over the garden fence 
* through a window 
 
The point to remember is, that as long as everyone can see everyone else, then the document is valid.

Contact
Authorised and regulated by the Financial conduct authority. FCA number - 784785.

If you have any queries, give us a call on 
01633 746 278

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