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You can help make or make decisions about someone’s property and money if they appointed you using an enduring power of attorney (EPA).

The person who appointed you is called the ‘donor’ - you are their ‘attorney’.

Any decision you make on the donor’s behalf must be in their best interests.

You’ll need to check if the donor’s given you specific instructions or guidance in the EPA document that will affect your responsibilities.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

Using the enduring power of attorney

You can start using an EPA at any time if the EPA is legal and the donor gives you permission.

You’ll be responsible for helping the donor make decisions about their finances. Depending on their instructions you’ll help manage things like their:

• money and bills
• bank and building society accounts
• property and investments
• pensions and benefits

There may be other attorneys - if there are, check how the donor wants you to make decisions.

You must register the EPA when the donor starts to lose or has lost their mental capacity. This means they cannot make a decision at the time it needs to be made because of a mental impairment.

You must still involve the person in making decisions whenever possible and only make decisions on their behalf which are in their best interests.

Stop being an attorney

The EPA will end if the donor cancels it or they die.

You can stop being an attorney by choice.

You must register the enduring power of attorney (EPA) as soon as the donor starts to lose mental capacity.

1. Tell the donor, their family members and other attorneys you intend to register the EPA.

2. Apply to register the EPA.

3. Pay the fee.

Telling people you intend to register

Download and fill in form EP1PG. Send it to:

• the donor
• at least 3 of the donor’s family members who are eligible - they must be 18 or over and have mental capacity
• any attorneys who were appointed ‘jointly and severally’ but are not applying to register the EPA

You must tell the first 3 eligible family members from the following list. If there’s no family member in a particular category, move on to the next one. You must try to tell the family members in this order:

• donor’s husband, wife or civil partner
• donor’s children (including adopted children but not including stepchildren)
• donor’s parents
• donor’s brothers and sisters (including half-brothers and half-sisters)
• widow or widower or surviving civil partner of the donor’s child
• donor’s grandchildren
• donor’s nephews and nieces (children of the donor’s full brothers and sisters)
• donor’s nephews and nieces (children of the donor’s half-brothers and half-sisters)
• donor’s aunts and uncles (full brothers or sisters of a parent of the donor)
• donor’s first cousins (children of the donor’s aunts and uncles who are full brothers and sisters of a parent of the donor)

You must tell all the people in a category if you tell one of them, for example if 1 of the 3 relatives you’re telling is a grandchild and the donor has 15 other grandchildren, you must tell all 16 of them.

If you’re a family member as well as an attorney, you count as one of the people to be told. You’ll still have to tell other people in your category.

People who you tell can object to the registration. They have 35 days to object from when they get the form.

Apply to register

Download and fill in the application form EP2PG.

As soon as you’ve officially told people you intend to register, send the form to the Office of the Public Guardian.

Use a different address if you’re a member of the DX Exchange courier service.

Include the original EPA form or a certified copy if the original has been lost.

You’ll also need to pay the fee.

Fees

It costs £82 to register an EPA, unless you’re applying for help with fees (LPA120).

Send a cheque for the fee payable to ‘Office of the Public Guardian’. Write the donor’s name on the back of the cheque.

How long registration takes

The EPA will usually be registered between 8 and 10 weeks after you sent the application form and told the family members. It will take longer if one or more of the family members object.

You can only use an enduring power of attorney (EPA) if it was made correctly.

Check that the EPA form was:

• made when the donor was at least 18 and had the ability to make their own decisions (they had not lost ‘mental capacity’)
• signed by the donor and a witness who was not one of the attorneys for the EPA
• signed by all the attorneys

When the EPA was made you and any other attorneys had to be:

• 18 or over
• not bankrupt - and have not been bankrupt since

Check the enduring power of attorney (EPA) form to find out how many attorneys have been appointed.

If there’s more than one attorney, check whether you must make decisions:

• separately or together (sometimes called ‘jointly and severally’), which means you can make decisions on your own or with other attorneys
• together (sometimes called ‘jointly’), which means you and all the other attorneys have to agree on a decision

The donor may give instructions for you to make some decisions ‘jointly’ and others ‘jointly and severally’.

Joint attorneys

If you’re appointed jointly with another attorney or attorneys and one of you stops being an attorney, the enduring power of attorney ends automatically.

You’ll need to find another way to help the donor make decisions.

You’re responsible for helping the donor to make decisions for things like their:

• money and bills
• bank and building society accounts
• property and investments
• pensions and benefits

Check the enduring power of attorney (EPA) form to see if the donor has listed:

• restrictions on what you can do
• guidance on how they want decisions to be made

How to manage the donor’s finances

You must manage the donor’s finances in their best interests.

Keep the donor’s finances separate from your own, unless you’ve got a joint bank account or own a home together. If you do, tell the bank or mortgage company you’re acting as the other person’s attorney.

You must keep accounts of the donor’s assets, income, spending and outgoings. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Court of Protection can ask to check these.

Gifts

You can buy gifts or give gifts of money on behalf of the donor, including donations to charities. You must only make gifts:

• to people who normally receive gifts from the person
• on suitable occasions, for example birthdays or weddings
• to charities that normally receive donations from the person

Gifts must be reasonable - read the

Buying or selling property

You can buy or sell property on the donor’s behalf if it’s in their best interests.

Contact OPG if:

• the sale is below the market value
• you or your family want to buy the property
• you’re giving it to someone else

They can advise you on whether you need to apply to the Court of Protection about this.

If you’re selling the donor’s home and the donor has a health and welfare lasting power of attorney (LPA), you may need to discuss where the donor is going to live with the relevant attorney.

Wills

You cannot make a will on behalf of the donor.

You can apply to the Court of Protection for a ‘statutory will’ if the donor needs to make a will, but lacks capacity to do it themselves.

Unless you’re a professional attorney, you will not normally be paid for being someone’s attorney.

Expenses

You can claim expenses you’ve had while carrying out your duties as an attorney, for example:

• travel costs
• stationery
• postage
• phone calls

Keep your receipts and invoice the donor for your expenses.

You’ll stop acting as the donor’s attorney if:

• the donor dies - the enduring power of attorney (EPA) ends automatically
• you choose to stop being an attorney - sometimes called ‘revoking’ or ‘disclaiming’ an attorneyship
• you declare yourself bankrupt

If you stop you’ll need to fill in the relevant forms and provide the relevant documents.

If the donor or another attorney dies

You must tell OPG and send them the original EPA and all certified copies.

If the donor or attorney died outside of the United Kingdom, you must also send a copy of the death certificate.

What happens to the existing EPA

OPG will cancel the EPA if the donor dies, or if an attorney dies and either:

• the attorneys had to make all decisions together - this is called acting ‘jointly’
• there was only one attorney

A cancelled EPA will be destroyed. If you want OPG to send it back instead, include a note asking for its return along with a return address.

If an attorney dies and the attorneys were able to make any decisions on their own (called acting ‘jointly and severally’), OPG will update the LPA instead. You must include a return address when you send the EPA.

If you want to stop being an attorney

If you decide to give up the role of attorney, fill in and send a notification form. Send it to:

• the donor - if the EPA has not been registered
• the donor and OPG - if the EPA has been registered

You should also tell any other attorneys appointed on the EPA.