Make sure you see your solicitor when putting a Power of Attorney in place and accepting the responsibility of becoming someone’s Power of Attorney.
• Powers of Attorney are constrained by limitations expressed in the Power itself.
• There are, however, additional restrictions imposed by the general law upon the ambit of a Power of Attorney.
• These restrictions are particularly relevant in the context of improvident or risky transactions, gifts and transactions in which the attorney has an interest.
• Ordinarily, in effecting a transaction under the authority of a Power of Attorney, a solicitor will owe a duty of care (at least) to the principal who granted the Power.
In a recent case “(T)he Court concluded that the wife had committed a “fraud on the power”. The transfer…had been made for the purposes of giving effect to the wife’s own personal views of what was fair… and not for the purposes of advancing the interests (or for the benefit) of the husband.” (Source: Law Society Journal Legal Updates & Case Notes)
For some clarity around your Power of Attorney arrangements, give Richard Wise Solicitors a phone call. 02 6372 3388