Appointing Attorneys

When creating Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) via a local and professional Will Writer, the people you choose to act on your behalf are called your ‘Attorneys’. You must choose at least one Attorney, but there is no maximum number. However, too many attorneys could cause problems, especially if they are appointed “Jointly” as outlined below. It is highly recommended to also appoint at least one replacement (substitute) Attorney in case your first-choice Attorney is unable to act. Otherwise, your LPA would become unusable. So how do you go about appointing attorneys?

When selecting Attorneys, you should think about the following questions:

• How many Attorneys do you want to appoint?
• Will your Attorneys be able to work together without conflict?
• Do you trust them to act in your best interests?
• How well do you know each other?
• How well do they understand you?
• How well do they look after their own money?

It is important that you choose your Attorneys for the right reasons. You should not feel you have to choose someone because you don’t want to leave them out or offend them. Attorneys are often responsible for making very important decisions, and some people may not be suitable to act in this role.

In addition to deciding who should act as your Attorney(s), you also need to decide how your Attorneys can act.

Jointly and Severally

This option tends to be the most popular as it offers the most flexibility for your Attorneys. This means that Attorneys can act independently of each other, so they do not ALL have to agree on all decisions, which helps if there is a dispute between them or if they live in different countries.

However, this can also be a negative point as an Attorney can act alone with less supervision from the other Attorneys. Nevertheless, ALL Attorneys must ALWAYS act in your best interests by law. Also, if any Attorney(s) die(s) or become unable to act, then the other Attorneys can still continue to act.

Jointly

This option offers more protection as all Attorneys must agree on ALL decisions because they cannot act independently. Therefore, this minimises the issue of potential abuse by any Attorney(s). However, this option has less flexibility as all Attorneys must officially agree on every decision, no matter how big or small that decision may be.

Also, matters can result in Attorneys going to court if they cannot agree.

Another problem when Attorneys act Jointly is that if one Attorney dies or can no longer act, then all the Attorneys can no longer act. Unless replacement attorneys have been named in case of such an event, then the LPA will cease to be valid at that point.

Jointly for Some Decisions, and Severally for Other Decisions

This option provides you with the opportunity to choose which decisions must be agreed upon unanimously by your Attorneys.  This generally applies to more important decisions such as selling a house, residential care choices, etc.

When appointing attorneys choose wisely! For further guidance WITHOUT fear of consultation fees or obligation, then please visit our Power-of-Attorney page.