Choosing to create a power of attorney (POA) can bring you much peace and clarity regarding your future well-being. However, the act of choosing an attorney to entrust your POA requires just as much forethought as it takes to create a POA. While POAs are considered stopgap solutions since they are limited in scope, they still do authorise your attorney to act on your behalf even if it’s for a temporary period.
A lasting power of attorney (LPA), on the other hand, grants you a lasting sense of security as you appoint an attorney to make important decisions in line with health and finance arrangements agreed to beforehand.
Given the sensitive nature of responsibilities a potential POA attorney has to shoulder, it would be wise to weigh your options and choose carefully. In this article, we discuss key factors you should consider when choosing your POA attorney.
3 Simple Tips to Choosing the Right Attorney
Since POAs involve entrusting an attorney with a wide scope of powers to act in your best interests, there are a few parameters to keep in mind when determining your potential attorney’s capacity to do the job well.
Ideally, you can choose anyone over the age of 18 to be your attorney. However, there are a few other considerations to take into account, which are as follows.
1. Trustworthiness
Trust is the binding glue of all human relationships, and it is especially relevant in choosing your POA attorney. Appointing an attorney is an act of great trust and faith in someone’s goodwill to act in your best interests. It is a huge responsibility for an attorney to shoulder. Therefore, having an amicable relationship based on mutual trust becomes an important prerequisite to the donor-attorney dynamic.
Your attorney has to be an upstanding individual who has demonstrated sensibility, integrity of character, and reliability in their conduct and relationship with you. This is an important consideration even if your attorney is a solicitor and not a close family member or loved one.
An attorney must always act in your best interests and take into account your wishes and beliefs to execute your POA. Mutual trust and respect are the keystones of a donor-attorney relationship dynamic, one that is non-negotiable when you consider choosing an attorney.
2. Free from Conflict of Interest Issues
There are other factors beyond trust to take into account when choosing an attorney. One such factor is the potential conflict of interest an attorney could have, and it may be a reason for a person’s disqualification to be your attorney. This comes into play regardless of whether you’re planning to make a lasting power of attorney online or in person and is an important consideration from the point of view of a property and finance LPA.
These LPAs deal specifically with the management of your personal property and assets, bank accounts, digital assets, taxes etc. Finance LPAs are arrangements agreed to beforehand that will come into effect when you’re mentally no longer able to manage your financial affairs. This is done so that your loss of mental capacity does not become a point of vulnerability for you.
Any attorney with a conflict of interest can thwart the protective and empowering character of an LPA. This is a potential risk that can be avoided with due diligence on your part. While there isn’t a foolproof way to ensure there’ll be zero conflict of interest, you can verify your attorney’s financial background to limit such risks.
It’s also important to ensure that your designated attorney in a property and finance LPA must be financially responsible in their own life before they can handle yours. It’s safe to assume that a bankrupt person would not be a wise choice to become your attorney. It’d also do well to remember that though a person who is no longer bankrupt can qualify to be your attorney, it may not necessarily be a smart choice due to prior financial history.
3. Age Considerations
Health LPAs were first introduced under the provision of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005 and are important legal frameworks when planning for elderly care, retirement or when you are anticipating a loss of mental capacity due to illness.
However, if you’re considering a health LPA as part of your retirement plan or any other circumstance that may result in your mental incapacity, it is wise to entrust your health-related matters to someone younger than you.
While people often choose their spouse or partner as attorneys in a health LPA, it is likely to be a hassle if the said spouse/attorney is in the same age group as you. They could be facing the same potential health issues and risks that you are preparing for.
Health LPA responsibilities can be emotionally difficult and require objectivity. It requires liaising with health providers and social services as well as choosing care homes, making arrangements for elderly care etc. A younger attorney would be a wiser choice as opposed to someone in the same age group.
It would also be sensible to avoid appointing people older than you as a health LPA attorney. You can also consider choosing a solicitor for your attorney to protect your loved ones from the added stress of executing a health LPA.
Conclusion
Making a POA is an important step in planning for your future. However, what’s more important is to choose the right POA attorney. Giving it careful consideration and ensuring your attorney understands your preferences and wishes will help in the smooth execution of your POA arrangements. We hope this article helps you choose your attorney wisely.
