Power of attorney
There are different types of Power of Attorney (PoA), which we’ve explained below. For us to accept your delegation, it needs to be a PoA that relates to property and financial affairs.
This must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian and can be used for when you’re mentally capable and incapable. It may be appropriate in the following situations:
- You’re going to university.
- You have to go to hospital.
- You’re going overseas for up to a year.
- You want someone you trust to have access to your account.
- You need help managing your finances in the long term.
This was replaced by lasting power of attorney as of 1 October 2007; however it can still be used with Zempler Bank in the same way as a lasting power of attorney.
The enduring power of attorney must be registered with the Office of Public Guardian before it can be registered on a Zempler Bank account.
The Scottish Office of Public Guardian provides the following power of attorney.
- Welfare power of attorney – Used for attorneys to make decisions based on health and welfare
- Continuing power of attorney – Authority to manage property and finance
- Combined power of attorney – provides attorneys welfare and continuing rights
This is only allowed in a situation where you are mentally capable and
- you want someone you trust to have access
- you need short-term help managing your finances
- you’re going abroad for up to a year
- you’re going to university
- you’re going into hospital.
Important information: You must be mentally capable at the time of providing the authority to trusted individuals as attorneys.
Register a power of attorney
To register a Power of Attorney with us, you’ll need to call our team to notify us, and then mail or email your power of attorney document.
We’ve outlined the process for registering a third party here.
FAQs
As attorneys will be making decisions for you, it’s important to choose people you trust, such as family members, close friends or a professional (such as a solicitor).
Before you make this decision, we recommend you read about an attorney’s responsibilities.
You can have more than one attorney to act on your behalf. To do this, you must consider whether you’d like your attorneys to act ‘jointly’ or ‘jointly and severally.’ This will impact how make decisions around your account – see below for details.
Jointly – all attorneys will need to be present to carry out actions.
Jointly and severally – attorneys can act independently, or together.
Attorneys can manage and make decisions around a donor’s affairs. This includes:
- Money and bills
- Bank and building society accounts
- Property and investments
- Benefits and pensions
Attorneys should keep records of the donor’s assets, income, spending and outgoings. The Office of the Public Guardian and the Court of Protection (if applicable) can ask to check these records. Account holders can download statements from their online account using the app or online banking. As power of attorney, you can request statements for the account by contacting our team.
If you have concerns about the actions of an attorney, you can contact the Office of the Public Guardian support line. More details can be found at gov.uk/report-concern-about-attorney-deputy.