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What is a Power of Attorney?
A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that lets a client of ours (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help them make decisions on their behalf. In our case, this would likely be to help make financial and investment decisions.
A POA can be implemented on a temporary basis (such as if you're in a hospital) or for the longer term (in the unfortunate event you become ill and/or can no longer make decisions).
POAs can be a valuable tool to help people to ensure their financial affairs are managed in the way they’d like them to be in the event they lose the mental capacity to do so by themselves.
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If I have a POA, how do I share it with Investec Wealth & Investment (UK)?
Many POA documents are housed online by the relevant authority via a secure portal, allowing an attorney to give a third party like us a secure access code to verify key details. It's best to consult your national authority to understand the best way to share information with us.
Once you're clear on the best way to share the POA with us, please contact your / the donor's Investec Wealth & Investment (UK) contact (this is likely to be an Investment Manager of Financial Planner), call or visit a local Investec Wealth & Investment (UK) office, or use the contact details at the bottom of this page.
Attorneys will need to confirm their identity with us as well.
Identity requirements for attorneys
Under government legislation, we are required to verify the identity and address of all attorneys involved in a POA. This usually takes the form of a document that proves identity (such as a passport, a UK driving license) and a document that proves address (such as a utility bill, a credit card statement, a bank statement or a driving license), but please speak with us about the range of other documents we can accept.
Some national regulators also require us to collect unique codes known as national client identifiers (NCIs) for all individuals associated with a financial transaction, including attorneys. If the attorney is a UK resident, it is their National Insurance Number. Other countries have other requirements, so please speak to us if the attorney is based in another country.
What types of POA are there?
The types of Power of Attorney and the way these are issued differs by jurisdiction. More information is available in the table below.
| Jurisdiction | Relevant authority | Type of POA | Further details |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) | Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) | Two types of LPA:
|
| Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) | An Enduring Power of Attorney is a document that appoints someone (the ‘Attorney’) to manage the property and financial affairs of another person (the ‘Donor’), but not their health and welfare. Since the introduction of LPAs, it is no longer possible to make a new EPA, but if it was made before 1 October 2007, and relates to property and financial affairs, it can still be registered with the OPG. | ||
| Northern Ireland (NI) | Office of Care and Protection | Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) | Like in England and Wales, an Enduring Power of Attorney appoints an Attorney to manage the property and financial affairs of another person, but not their health and welfare. To become effective, an attorney must register an EPA with the High Court (Office of Care and Protection). Registration is not required until the point where the attorney believes the donor is no longer capable of managing their own affairs. |
| Scotland | Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPGS) | Continuing POA | Gives an attorney the power to deal with money and/or property immediately after it's registered with the OPGS. If the POA is only to be used in the event of the donor’s incapacity, it must clearly state that the powers are not to be used until this happens. |
| Welfare POA | Gives an attorney the power to make decisions around health or personal welfare matters after it's registered with the OPGS. | ||
| Combined POA | Gives continuing and welfare powers to an attorney after it's registered with the OPGS. | ||
| UK-wide | N/A | Ordinary POA |
|
How do I set up a POA?
The best place to commence the process to make a Power of Attorney is by contacting your relevant Guardianship Office or reading the information on their website, listed below:
| Jurisdiction | Link to authority's website | Some useful online resources | Phone number |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | 0300 456 0300 | ||
| Northern Ireland | Office of Care and Protection | 0300 200 7812 | |
| Scotland | Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) (OPGS) | 0132 467 8300 |
How is the loss of mental capacity defined?
Mental capacity is the ability of someone to make a particular decision, such as one about their investments or finances. Someone's mental capacity is usually assessed by a suitably skilled medical practitioner. You will need to get the donor's agreement for the assessment. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 goes into more detail.
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Investec Wealth & Investment (UK) is a trading name of Investec Wealth & Investment Limited which is a subsidiary of Rathbones Group Plc. Investec Wealth & Investment Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is registered in England. Registered No. 2122340. Registered Office: 30 Gresham Street. London. EC2V 7QN.