Enduring power of attorney: acting as an attorney

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1. Overview

You can help make or make decisions about someone바카라 사이트™s property and money if they appointed you using an enduring power of attorney (EPA).

The person who appointed you is called the 바카라 사이트˜donor바카라 사이트™ - you are their 바카라 사이트˜attorney바카라 사이트™.

Any decision you make on the donor바카라 사이트™s behalf must be in their best interests.

You바카라 사이트™ll need to check if the donor바카라 사이트™s given you specific instructions or guidance in the EPA document that will affect your responsibilities.

Only EPAs made and signed before October 1, 2007 can still be used. After that date donors had to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA) instead.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

Using the enduring power of attorney

You can start using an EPA at any time if the EPA is legal and the donor gives you permission.

You바카라 사이트™ll be responsible for helping the donor make decisions about their finances. Depending on their instructions you바카라 사이트™ll help manage things like their:

  • money and bills
  • bank and building society accounts
  • property and investments
  • pensions and benefits

There may be other attorneys - if there are, check how the donor wants you to make decisions.

You must register the EPA when the donor starts to lose or has lost their mental capacity. This means they cannot make a decision at the time it needs to be made because of a mental impairment.

You must still involve the person in making decisions whenever possible and only make decisions on their behalf which are in their best interests.

Stop being an attorney

The EPA will end if the donor cancels it or they die.

You can stop being an attorney by choice.

You may be investigated if there바카라 사이트™s a complaint against you. The Office of the Public Guardian can apply to the Court of Protection to have you removed.

2. Register an enduring power of attorney

You must register the enduring power of attorney (EPA) as soon as the donor starts to lose mental capacity.

  1. Tell the donor, their family members and other attorneys you intend to register the EPA.

  2. Apply to register the EPA.

  3. Pay the fee.

Telling people you intend to register

Download and fill in form EP1PG. Send it to:

You must tell the first 3 eligible family members from the following list. If there바카라 사이트™s no family member in a particular category, move on to the next one. You must try to tell the family members in this order:

  • donor바카라 사이트™s husband, wife or civil partner
  • donor바카라 사이트™s children (including adopted children but not including stepchildren)
  • donor바카라 사이트™s parents
  • donor바카라 사이트™s brothers and sisters (including half-brothers and half-sisters)
  • widow or widower or surviving civil partner of the donor바카라 사이트™s child
  • donor바카라 사이트™s grandchildren
  • donor바카라 사이트™s nephews and nieces (children of the donor바카라 사이트™s full brothers and sisters)
  • donor바카라 사이트™s nephews and nieces (children of the donor바카라 사이트™s half-brothers and half-sisters)
  • donor바카라 사이트™s aunts and uncles (full brothers or sisters of a parent of the donor)
  • donor바카라 사이트™s first cousins (children of the donor바카라 사이트™s aunts and uncles who are full brothers and sisters of a parent of the donor)

You must tell all the people in a category if you tell one of them, for example if 1 of the 3 relatives you바카라 사이트™re telling is a grandchild and the donor has 15 other grandchildren, you must tell all 16 of them.

If you바카라 사이트™re a family member as well as an attorney, you count as one of the people to be told. You바카라 사이트™ll still have to tell other people in your category.

You must do all you can to find the people you바카라 사이트™re telling. If you cannot find their address, or if there are not 3 relatives alive, tell the Office of the Public Guardian when you apply to register.

People who you tell can object to the registration. They have 35 days to object from when they get the form.

Apply to register

Download and fill in the application form EP2PG.

As soon as you바카라 사이트™ve officially told people you intend to register, send the form to the Office of the Public Guardian.

Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH

Use a different address if you바카라 사이트™re a member of the DX Exchange courier service.

Office of the Public Guardian
DX 744240
Birmingham 79

Include the original EPA form or a certified copy if the original has been lost.

You바카라 사이트™ll also need to pay the fee.

Fees

It costs £82 to register an EPA, unless you바카라 사이트™re applying for help with fees (LPA120).

Send a cheque for the fee payable to 바카라 사이트˜Office of the Public Guardian바카라 사이트™. Write the donor바카라 사이트™s name on the back of the cheque.

How long registration takes

The EPA will usually be registered between 8 and 10 weeks after you sent the application form and told the family members. It will take longer if one or more of the family members object.

3. Check an enduring power is legal

You can only use an enduring power of attorney (EPA) if it was made correctly.

Check that the EPA form was:

  • made when the donor was at least 18 and had the ability to make their own decisions (they had not lost 바카라 사이트˜mental capacity바카라 사이트™)
  • signed by the donor and a witness who was not one of the attorneys for the EPA
  • signed by all the attorneys

When the EPA was made you and any other attorneys had to be:

  • 18 or over
  • not bankrupt - and have not been bankrupt since

Only EPAs made and signed before October 1, 2007 can still be used. After that date donors had to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA) instead.

4. When there's more than one attorney

Check the enduring power of attorney (EPA) form to find out how many attorneys have been appointed.

If there바카라 사이트™s more than one attorney, check whether you must make decisions:

  • separately or together (sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜jointly and severally바카라 사이트™), which means you can make decisions on your own or with other attorneys
  • together (sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜jointly바카라 사이트™), which means you and all the other attorneys have to agree on a decision

The donor may give instructions for you to make some decisions 바카라 사이트˜jointly바카라 사이트™ and others 바카라 사이트˜jointly and severally바카라 사이트™.

Attorneys who are appointed jointly must all agree or they cannot make the decision.

Joint attorneys

If you바카라 사이트™re appointed jointly with another attorney or attorneys and one of you stops being an attorney, the enduring power of attorney ends automatically.

You바카라 사이트™ll need to find another way to help the donor make decisions.

5. Your duties

You바카라 사이트™re responsible for helping the donor to make decisions for things like their:

  • money and bills
  • bank and building society accounts
  • property and investments
  • pensions and benefits

Check the enduring power of attorney (EPA) form to see if the donor has listed:

  • restrictions on what you can do
  • guidance on how they want decisions to be made

How to manage the donor바카라 사이트™s finances

You must manage the donor바카라 사이트™s finances in their best interests.

Keep the donor바카라 사이트™s finances separate from your own, unless you바카라 사이트™ve got a joint bank account or own a home together. If you do, tell the bank or mortgage company you바카라 사이트™re acting as the other person바카라 사이트™s attorney.

You must keep accounts of the donor바카라 사이트™s assets, income, spending and outgoings. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Court of Protection can ask to check these.

You may be prosecuted if you misuse the donor바카라 사이트™s money.

Gifts

You can buy gifts or give gifts of money on behalf of the donor, including donations to charities. You must only make gifts:

  • to people who normally receive gifts from the person
  • on suitable occasions, for example birthdays or weddings
  • to charities that normally receive donations from the person

Gifts must be reasonable - read the

Buying or selling property

You can buy or sell property on the donor바카라 사이트™s behalf if it바카라 사이트™s in their best interests.

Contact OPG if:

  • the sale is below the market value
  • you or your family want to buy the property
  • you바카라 사이트™re giving it to someone else

They can advise you on whether you need to apply to the Court of Protection about this.

If you바카라 사이트™re selling the donor바카라 사이트™s home and the donor has a health and welfare lasting power of attorney (LPA), you may need to discuss where the donor is going to live with the relevant attorney.

Office of the Public Guardian
customerservices@publicguardian.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 456 0300
(if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0300 123 1300
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 9am to 5pm
Wednesday, 10am to 5pm
Find out about call charges

Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH

Wills

You cannot make a will on behalf of the donor.

You can apply to the Court of Protection for a 바카라 사이트˜statutory will바카라 사이트™ if the donor needs to make a will, but lacks capacity to do it themselves.

6. Payment and expenses

Unless you바카라 사이트™re a professional attorney, you will not normally be paid for being someone바카라 사이트™s attorney.

Expenses

You can claim expenses you바카라 사이트™ve had while carrying out your duties as an attorney, for example:

  • travel costs
  • stationery
  • postage
  • phone calls

Keep your receipts and invoice the donor for your expenses.

7. Stop acting as an attorney

You바카라 사이트™ll stop acting as the donor바카라 사이트™s attorney if:

  • the donor dies - the enduring power of attorney (EPA) ends automatically
  • you choose to stop being an attorney - sometimes called 바카라 사이트˜revoking바카라 사이트™ or 바카라 사이트˜disclaiming바카라 사이트™ an attorneyship
  • you declare yourself bankrupt

If you stop you바카라 사이트™ll need to fill in the relevant forms and provide the relevant documents.

If you had to make decisions jointly with other attorneys and any of you stop, the enduring power ends automatically. You바카라 사이트™ll need to find another way to help the donor make decisions.

If the donor or another attorney dies

You must tell OPG and send them the original EPA and all certified copies.

If the donor or attorney died outside of the United Kingdom, you must also send a copy of the death certificate.

What happens to the existing EPA

OPG will cancel the EPA if the donor dies, or if an attorney dies and either:

  • the attorneys had to make all decisions together - this is called acting 바카라 사이트˜jointly바카라 사이트™
  • there was only one attorney

A cancelled EPA will be destroyed. If you want OPG to send it back instead, include a note asking for its return along with a return address.

If an attorney dies and the attorneys were able to make any decisions on their own (called acting 바카라 사이트˜jointly and severally바카라 사이트™), OPG will update the LPA instead. You must include a return address when you send the EPA.

Office of the Public Guardian
customerservices@publicguardian.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 456 0300
(if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0300 123 1300
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 9am to 5pm
Wednesday, 10am to 5pm
Find out about call charges

Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH

If you want to stop being an attorney

If you decide to give up the role of attorney, fill in and send a notification form. Send it to:

  • the donor - if the EPA has not been registered
  • the donor and OPG - if the EPA has been registered

You should also tell any other attorneys appointed on the EPA.

Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH