Section 10 of Power of Attorney Act 1971
· This piece of legislation confers on the Attorney recipient the power to act on behalf of a donor for a specific aspect of that donor’s financial affairs.
· The donor can appoint one or more attorneys to act jointly or severally.
· The donor does not need to have any loss of mental capacity to confer the power.
· The power is often limited to a specific period of time, for example, where the donor knows they will be unable to attend to their affairs for a month while they are abroad. Another example might be where the donor goes on holiday, and needs their business managing or a property selling in their absence.
· The power given can be restricted to one or more matters.
· The power can still be revoked by the donor: (i) by the expiry date specified in the power, (ii) by death, (iii) by bankruptcy, or (iv) by mental incapacity of the donor or Attorney (v) or by a deed of revocation.
· The benefit of this provision is that it can be prepared quickly and only costs a one off fee of £130. (to the Office of the Public Guardian)
NB. If you want a Lasting Power of Attorney which continues to be in place after the Donor has lost mental capacity then click here