Powers of Attorney So many people take steps to protect their family by making a Will, taking out life cover and arranging a pension. However, they fail to consider who would manage their affairs if they suffered from illness, accident or a protracted absence. If this happened to you how would your family cope? Below explains how you can authorise someone to handle your affairs if this was to happen to you:- 1)  Somebody authorised to act for you in respect of your financial affairs is called an Attorney. The document this authority comes from is a Power of Attorney. 2)  You will need to choose the type of power to grant. There are two types of Power of Attorney, General and Enduring. The General Power is usually only used to authorise someone to act on a one off basis. It fails to be effective if the person who originally gave it becomes incapable of managing their affairs. Quite often this is just when it is needed most. Therefore, an Enduring Power of Attorney is usually the favoured option.

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3)  You will need to choose your Attorneys. We suggest you have two. They can act jointly and severally or jointly. We will advise you on these options. A Solicitor from Alexander Bosher will act should you so wish. If you do not have professional Attorneys, you will need to choose completely trustworthy persons to act.

4)  You will need to decide whether there are to be restrictions included in the Power so that it only comes into force should you suffer mental incapacity in the future. It is also possible to limit the authority. We will advise you on this.

5)  Once executed, your Attorneys will be able to deal with your business and private financial matters should yo be unable to do so. If you make a recovery you can seize control again. You can cancel the Enduring Power of Attorney at any time.

6)  If you fail to make a recovery, your Attorney has a duty to register the Enduring Power of Attorney with the Court of Protection. We could help you with this. You would no longer be able to cancel the Enduring Power of Attorney once it was registered.

What Now?
An Enduring Power of Attorney is a relatively cheap and effective way of arranging your affairs so that there is help for you and your family should you need it in the future.