General and ordinary powers of attorney
A document giving someone authority to deal with your financial or property affairs while you still have capacity — for a spell abroad, a stay in hospital, or a transaction you can't be present for.
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What it costs
- General Power of Attorney
- From £195
Quoted in writing before you commit to anything, and the price includes the signing visit to your home anywhere in Kent and East Sussex — no travel charge, and no extra for an evening or a weekend.
Right for you if: you have capacity now and need someone able to act for you for a defined period or a particular job.
Sometimes the problem isn’t what happens if you become unable to manage your affairs. It’s that you’re going to be in Spain for four months, or in hospital for six weeks, or the completion date falls while you’re somewhere with no signal — and somebody needs to be able to sign, pay and act on your behalf in the meantime.
That’s what a general power of attorney is for. It’s sometimes called an ordinary power of attorney, and the two mean the same thing.
What it does
It gives a person you choose — your attorney — authority to deal with your financial and property affairs. It takes effect as soon as it’s signed. There’s no registration, no Office of the Public Guardian, no waiting.
You can make it as wide or as narrow as the job requires:
- A specific transaction — completing on a house sale, dealing with one account, signing a particular set of documents.
- A defined period — the months you’ll be working overseas, or a spell of treatment.
- Your financial affairs generally, where you want somebody able to handle whatever arises while you’re unavailable.
Narrower is usually better. It’s easier for a bank or a conveyancer to accept, and it hands over no more authority than the situation actually calls for.
The limitation you need to understand first
A general power of attorney ends automatically the moment you lose mental capacity.
That is not a drafting flaw that a better document could fix — it’s the defining characteristic of this kind of power, and it’s precisely why lasting powers of attorney were created. If your reason for making one is worry about illness, an accident, or the future, this is the wrong document and I’ll say so on the first call rather than take the fee.
Where it fits is short-term, practical, and while you’re well:
- Working or living abroad for a period, with property, accounts or a business here that needs attending to.
- A hospital stay or a course of treatment where you’ll be out of action but perfectly capable.
- A property transaction you can’t attend — though check with the conveyancer first, because they may have specific requirements about how the power is drafted and witnessed.
- Practical help you simply want, where an older client would like an adult child able to deal with the bank now, without waiting for anything to go wrong.
How it sits alongside an LPA
They aren’t alternatives, and a good many clients end up with both. The general power covers the here and now; the LPA sits in reserve for a situation nobody expects. If you’re going to the trouble of thinking about who you’d trust to handle your money, it’s the natural moment to deal with both — and it costs less to do them in one conversation than in two.
I’ll quote for whichever combination actually fits, and tell you if one of them is unnecessary.
Common questions
How is this different from an LPA?
An LPA is built to survive your losing mental capacity — that is its entire purpose, and it's why it has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. A general power of attorney is the opposite: it works immediately, with no registration, and it automatically ends the moment you lose capacity. They solve different problems, and neither substitutes for the other.
So it stops working exactly when I'd need it most?
Yes, and that is worth being blunt about. If your reason for wanting one is "what happens if something happens to me", a general power of attorney is not the answer and I will tell you so. It is a tool for convenience while you are well, not for protection when you're not. Most people who ask me for one end up wanting an LPA as well, and quite a few end up wanting only that.
Can I limit what my attorney is able to do?
Yes, and usually you should. A general power can be drafted broadly, covering your financial affairs at large, or narrowed to a specific job — one property, one account, one transaction — and to a fixed period. A narrow power is easier for a bank or a conveyancer to accept and much safer for you. I'll draft it to fit the actual job rather than handing over more authority than the situation needs.
Will my bank accept it?
Usually, though banks vary and some are slow. Most will want to see the original or a certified copy and run their own checks before putting it on the account, which takes time — so allow for that rather than signing the day before you fly. If the power is for a property transaction, the conveyancer will have their own requirements and it's worth asking them what they need before it's drafted.
How do I end it?
By revoking it, in writing, and telling everybody who has been relying on it — the bank, the conveyancer, the attorney themselves. It also ends automatically on a fixed end date if one was written into it, on your death, or if you lose mental capacity. Don't leave a power in circulation after the job it was made for is finished.
Not sure whether this is what you need?
That's what the first phone call is for. It's free, there's no obligation, and if something else would serve you better I'll tell you so.