Q&As

Does a document appointing an attorney need to state that it is a power of attorney for it to be effective as such? If a document giving authority to one party to act on behalf of another is silent as to whether it is a power of attorney, do the general principles of agency apply to such appointment and the extent of the authority granted?

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Produced in partnership with Lynne Counsell of Addington Chambers
Published on: 31 October 2019
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Types of powers of attorney

There are various types of powers of attorney, including:

  1. •

    general or ordinary power of attorney under Powers of Attorneys Act 1971 (PAA 1971)

  2. •

    a lasting power of attorney under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. These have replaced Enduring Powers of Attorney to appoint an attorney in the event of loss of capacity

  3. •

    a security power of attorney under PAA 1971, s 4. This is expressed to be irrevocable and to secure a proprietary interest of the donee or the power or performance of an obligation owed to the donee

Formalities for a general power of attorney

The Q&A is dealing with a general

Lynne Counsell
Lynne Counsell

Barrister, Addington Chambers

Lynne has been in traditional Chancery practice for some thirty years, specialising in probate matters, construction of wills and trusts and also financial services and drafting.

Lynne was for some years counsel for Tower Hamlets, representing them on landlord and tenant cases and counsel for Bedford Building Society representing it on mortgage cases.

Lynne has written or updated over fifty books, including writing the initial volume of Atkin’s Court Forms “Financial Services” and updating Halsbury’s Laws on Injunctions. Lynne was also co-author of two editions of “Insider Trading” and co-editor and one of the writers of “Chancery Practice and Procedure.”

Articles include “Marketing of Investments” for the Law Society Gazette and “The Doctrine of Mutual Wills” for the Trust Quarterly Review. Lynne won one of the few cases on mutual wills in the last fifty years – Charles v Fraser (2010).

Lynne has drafted the standard unit trust for the government of Nigeria, the rules and related documentation for various building societies and clubs, shareholder agreements, company takeovers compliance documentation for certain banks as well as wills and trusts.

Lynne was awarded the 2017 Corporate international Magazine Global Award – “Investment Contracts Barrister of the Year in England”.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Power of attorney definition
What does Power of attorney mean?

A power of attorney is a document that is entered into as a deed under which one party (known as the donor) grants to the other party (known as the attorney) the power to act on behalf of and in the name of the donor.

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