Enduring Powers of Attorney

We can advise on the creation, implementation and registration of an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). An EPA is a very powerful legal document which effectively hands over the power to manage your financial affairs to another person or people who are then known as your “attorneys”. The Attorney can carry on acting after the donor has become mentally incapacitated, but only if the EPA is registered with the Court of Protection. It is not a step to be entered into lightly but one that may suit your particular circumstances. Where appropriate we can act as your Attorney so that we are empowered to administer your affairs if you are unable to do so yourself either because you have lost the mental ability to do so or you simply don't want the pressure of dealing with matters yourself.

Most people assume that an EPA is a document that will only benefit the elderly or infirm. Most care homes for instance will recommend that their residents have an EPA in place. However, it can also be extremely useful where a person has lost a partner who dealt exclusively with their joint finances and they just don't know where to start. In this instance the survivor may call upon an adult child to help out.

However, everyone should give serious thought to having an EPA regardless of whether it is actually ever utilised. Powers of attorney are widely used in commercial and business transactions. Take for example the businessman who has complete control over the financial management of the business, including the bank account. If he has an accident and falls into a coma, who is going to take over the day to day running of the business? Without an authorised person at the helm to make sure that suppliers, contractors, employees, landlords, Customs & Excise etc still get paid the business could quickly run into trouble. Even couples can benefit from having an EPA in place so that if, for example, their mortgage is paid from the bank account of just one partner and he or she temporarily loses capacity or gets posted abroad the mortgage payments can still be kept up.