Appoint one or more people to manage your property and financial affairs in England and Wales while you have mental capacity. Made under the Powers of Attorney Act 1971. It ends automatically if you lose capacity and needs no Office of the Public Guardian registration.
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A general power of attorney is a deed by which one person, the donor, authorises another person, the attorney, to act on their behalf in relation to their property and financial affairs. It is made under section 10 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 and gives the attorney authority over everything the donor may lawfully delegate.
A general power of attorney takes effect as soon as it is signed and it is automatically revoked if the donor loses mental capacity. That is the single most important thing to understand about it: it is a tool for a donor who has capacity but is unavailable, not a tool for planning around future incapacity. It needs no registration and no fee, so it can be in force the same day.
Other names: ordinary power of attorney, general POA, section 10 power of attorney, financial power of attorney, POA deed.
| General power of attorney | Lasting power of attorney | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | s.10 Powers of Attorney Act 1971 | Mental Capacity Act 2005 |
| Registration | None | Must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian |
| Cost to activate | None beyond the deed | Registration fee per document |
| When it works | Only while the donor has mental capacity | Continues after the donor loses capacity |
| Covers health and welfare | No | Only under a health and welfare LPA |
| Time to be usable | Immediate | Several weeks for registration |
If your aim is to plan for a future loss of capacity, a general power of attorney will not do it. Use a lasting power of attorney instead.
An attorney under a general power may operate bank accounts, pay bills, collect rent, deal with tax, buy and sell investments, and sign contracts and transfers of land on the donor's behalf.
An attorney cannot:
An attorney owes fiduciary duties to the donor. They must act in the donor's interests, keep the donor's money separate from their own, and keep records.
About the donor and attorney
About the power
Execution
It must be executed as a deed. A general power of attorney has to be signed as a deed under section 1 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 and section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989. That means signed in the presence of a witness who also signs, and then delivered. An unwitnessed signature makes the document ineffective.
Choose between joint and joint and several carefully. Attorneys appointed jointly must all sign every time. Attorneys appointed jointly and severally can each act alone, which is far more practical but gives each of them full authority on their own.
Give certified copies, not the original. Banks, brokers and HM Land Registry will each want to see the power. Section 3 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 allows a copy certified on every page by the donor, a lawyer or a stockbroker to be used as proof of contents.
Tell people when it ends. Under section 5 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971, an attorney who acts without knowing the power has been revoked does not incur liability, and a third party dealing with them is protected. That protection cuts both ways: if you do not give notice, transactions can still bind you.
No. Unlike a lasting power of attorney, a general power of attorney under section 10 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 needs no registration with the Office of the Public Guardian and attracts no registration fee. It is effective as soon as it is validly executed as a deed and delivered.
Yes. It must be executed as a deed, which requires the donor to sign in the presence of a witness who then attests the signature. The witness should be an independent adult, not the attorney and not the attorney's spouse or civil partner.
The power is automatically revoked. This is the defining limit of a general power of attorney. If the donor has already lost capacity and no lasting power of attorney exists, the only route is an application to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, which is slow and expensive by comparison.
Yes, provided the deed is wide enough and the attorney is not restricted. HM Land Registry will want to see the original power or a certified copy, and will want confirmation that it has not been revoked. If the property is held on trust with a co-owner, a trustee power of attorney under section 25 of the Trustee Act 1925 is the correct document instead.
There is no statutory limit. Most donors appoint one or two. If you appoint more than one, say whether they act jointly, meaning all must agree and sign, or jointly and severally, meaning any one of them can act alone.
Only if the deed says so, and only within the limits it sets. An attorney who makes gifts without express authority is acting in breach of their duties to the donor and can be made to repay the value.
Until the date you specify, until you revoke it, or until it ends automatically. It ends automatically on the donor's death, on the donor's loss of mental capacity, on the donor's bankruptcy, or on the death, incapacity or disclaimer of a sole attorney.
By a deed of revocation, with written notice to the attorney and to every bank, registry and third party that has seen the power. Notice is what makes revocation effective in practice, because of the third party protection in section 5 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971.
This document is drafted for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate regimes, and a power drafted for England and Wales should not be relied on for assets or transactions governed by those systems.
Only if the deed allows it. Otherwise an attorney may recover reasonable out of pocket expenses but not a fee for their time. Professional attorneys such as lawyers charge under an express clause.
This page and the general power of attorney were drafted and reviewed by the lawyers who build Hello Legal's document library.
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