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General Power of Attorney

A General Power of Attorney can be used to make sure that you and your family

are taken care of in the event of an accident or other situation affecting your

ability to manage your own affairs. The General Power of Attorney is a document

that appoints an attorney to act on your behalf in relation to general activities

such as personal and/or financial matters on the occurence of certain events.

For example, you may just be out of the country for several months and need

someone to monitor your affairs in the meantime. Or, it could be that you are

becoming ill with a disease and you need someone to help you if you are

declared unable to handle your affairs in the future. The Power of Attorney does

not actually have to be given to a legally qualified attorney, the Attorney can be a

close friend or relative. Ultimately, the Attorney you appoint must be someone

that you trust completely and believe is competent to deal with your affairs

appropriately.

Once a Power of Attorney has been put in place, it can be terminated at any

time using a Deed of Revocation of Power of Attorney. You can choose to

appoint an Attorney generally to act on your behalf. In this situation, the

Attorney will have the authority to manage all and any of your affairs.

Alternatively, you can choose to grant your Attorney authority to undertake only

specific tasks on your behalf, such as renewing your car insurance premium or

managing a specific bank account, for example. A General Power of Attorney is

most often used by an individual who will be away travelling for a period of time

or by individuals whose mobility is affected and wish to appoint someone who

can do things on their behalf.

A General Power of Attorney will become automatically void in the event

that you lose your mental capabilities. Accordingly, a General Power of

Attorney is often not suitable for managing the affairs of the elderly or

mentally ill. For such individuals, a Lasting Power of Attorney should be

used, which continues to be valid once a person loses their full mental

abilities, provided that it is registered with the Court of Protection. If you

are declared mentally incompetent, you would first have to be declared

competent again before you can sign a Deed of Revocation to retain

control of your affairs.

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