Appointment types

There are three types of appointments to choose from however your circumstances will likely point to the most appropriate one that best suits your needs. Your power of attorney (PoA) must state who you are appointing as your attorney and the type of appointment you wish to make. 

Please note that when appointed your attorney will hold a position of trust, therefore it is important that you appoint someone who is competent and reliable. 

1.    Sole attorney

This type of appointment is suitable if you wish to appoint one person to act on your behalf. 

2.    Joint attorneys

You are free to appoint as many attorneys as you wish. Joint attorneys can have similar or different powers.

If more than one attorney is to be appointed you will need to think about how your attorneys are to act e.g. can they make decisions together, separately or together and separately? 

It is important that you give careful consideration to this to ensure your intentions are captured accurately when drafting your PoA. For example if you state that your attorneys are to make decisions together both attorneys need to be available to do this, so if one resigns or even dies the PoA document will come to an end. However if you wish for your attorneys to make decisions together and separately your PoA must state this clearly.  Your legal adviser will be able to provide advice to you on this matter.

3.    Substitute attorneys

You can appoint one or more substitute attorneys to take the place of a sole or joint attorney. A substitute usually takes over the appointment when either a sole or joint attorney dies or resigns. If you wish to appoint a substitute they must be named in the PoA document. 

The drafting of a PoA document is very important as when the attorneys are using the registered PoA the details of it will be open to interpretation by whomever is being presented with the document e.g. bank staff, pension provider, GP, care home provider etc. Therefore your intentions/instructions need to be clear regarding who is appointed, the type of appointment you wish to make and how your attorneys are to act. 

Be sure to take advice and if legal advice is required or your affairs are complex, please contact a legal adviser. Please note that we cannot provide legal advice.