Signing a power of attorney is a sensible decision which protects your future wellbeing. By nominating a trusted relative or friend to make decisions about your health, welfare and finances should you lose the capacity to do so, you can relax in the knowledge that your best interests will be looked after.
It is convenient and easy to set up a power of attorney online, thanks to specialists in the field such as powerofattorneyonline.co.uk.
Deciding who to nominate as your attorney is a highly personal and important decision. Of course, it needs to be someone that you trust and who you feel will make sensible decisions on your behalf. It helps if the person has a good understanding of finances and property. Let us take a look at any restrictions on who can be chosen as an attorney.
A person who has declared bankruptcy
If you are looking to complete a power of attorney for finances and property, you can’t legally name a person who has declared insolvency, according to GOV.UK. However, they would be fine to be appointed for health and welfare matters.
People under 18
It’s no surprise that you can’t nominate a person under the age of 18 to be your representative, since they don’t yet possess the legal capacity to make decisions.
Convicted offenders
Sometimes – but not always – a convicted offender can’t be appointed. Nominating a person with a previous criminal conviction in itself is not illegal as such, but it may be inadvisable because of potential difficulties down the line when the nominee needs to work with banks or other third parties.
People without capacity
Because acting as someone’s attorney comes with a high degree of responsibility, the person in this role must fully understand the information at hand and be able to make important decisions and communicate them effectively. For this reason, people without mental capacity, whether that be because of illness or similar, are unable to be nominated.
