What is an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA)?

What is an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA)?

What are the different types of powers of attorney? There are two types of powers of attorney – a universal or common law power of attorney and an enduring power of attorney. An EPA is a legal document which contains a statement by you (the donor) giving general or specific powers to your attorney. An attorney can be a friend, spouse, family or a lawyer. The EPA only takes effect in the event that you become mentally incapacitated and as a consequence of your mental condition are unable to administer or manage your affairs.
The core benefit of an EPA is that it gives you a means to arrange your affairs in advance of, and in spite of mental incapacity. It allows you to choose a person you can trust, to make decisions on your behalf if you become incapable of making them for yourself.

How does an EPA work?
The donor instructs his or her solicitor with regard to the requirements of the EPA. There are two key issues to consider with regard to the scope of the authority of the EPA; business and financial affairs and personal care decisions.

Business & Financial Affairs.
You will need to consider whether you are giving a general or specific authority over all your business and financial affairs. For example, do you want to the attorney to have the authority to sell your house? If the authority is going to be specific, with certain restrictions, careful drafting of the EPA will be required.

Personal Care Decisions.
If it is your intention to grant powers of personal care to your attorney, it is important to note that there are different categories of personal care decisions. You may include or exclude the different categories. It is critical that you understand that personal care decisions in respect of an EPA do not extend to consents to medical treatment unless they are specifically covered in one of the schedules to the EPA Statutory from.

How do I create an EPA?
Creating an EPA is a two stage process with strict formalities.
The first stage is the creation of the EPA. Your solicitor is required to draft the EPA and a doctor is also required to be involved. The next stage is to register the EPA, which can only come into effect when particular procedures have been completed. All these formalities and procedures exist to give the courts the power to protect and ensure that your wishes are fulfilled as per the EPA, and that you are not exploited.

This area of law is complex and there are numerous issues to be considered. If you would like to set up a consultation with a solicitor experienced in this area of law please phone us at 01 8744 422 and a Client Care Executive will be happy to help you.

All our Client Care Executive’s are non-lawyers with a considerable track record of helping people with legal issues.