Types Of Power Of Attorney

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Types of Power of Attorney

What is a power of attorney?

A power of attorney is a legal document whereby a customer (known as the donor) appoints one or more people (attorneys) to act on their behalf if they’re unable to manage their accounts.

The donor must have mental capacity to create a power of attorney. It’s usually done by a solicitor or through the government website.

You can find more about how to complete this process here: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/register.

CARE: If you would like HSBC to consider the application of the Power of Attorney to a business account associated with the Donor, please inform us at the time of application.

Your request will be sent to our specialist Commercial Banking team for review, and this is reviewed separately to the application of the Power of Attorney on any personal bank accounts.

Please note: for a Power of Attorney to be considered on a Business account, the Power must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian first.

There are two types of lasting power of attorney (LPA):

property and financial affairs
health and welfare

Please note, we cannot accept a health and welfare LPA.

An LPA for property and financial affairs allows attorneys to make financial decisions and carry out day-to-day transactions on the donor’s behalf.

An LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. However, once this has been done, it remains valid even if the donor loses mental capacity.

A continuing or combined power of attorney in Scotland is similar to an LPA. It must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland before it can be used.

To find out more about what attorneys can do, see our What an attorney can do page.

Since 2007, the LPA is the only type that’s been available to be registered, however there are other types that were available before this.

To register an LPA, please visit Registering your power of attorney with HSBC.

A general power of attorney is a legal document that appoints one or more attorneys to make financial decisions for the donor. It’s also known as an ordinary power of attorney.

A general power of attorney applies to all the donor’s affairs but can be limited to specific affairs only. This is known as a specific power of attorney.

A general power of attorney is automatically revoked (cancelled) if the donor loses mental capacity.

To find out more about what attorneys can do, see our What an attorney can do page.

To register a power of attorney, please visit Registering your power of attorney with HSBC.

Enduring powers of attorney (EPAs) only apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They’re still issued in Northern Ireland but not in England or Wales. However, enduring powers of attorney signed in England or Wales before 1 October 2007 are still valid and we can accept them.

An EPA acts in the same way as the other types, but you only have to register it if the donor is losing or has lost mental capacity. If this happens, you need to register it with the Office of the Public Guardian (or in Northern Ireland, the Office of Care and Protection).

If we're asked to add a registered EPA to our records, we’ll treat this as confirmation that the donor has lost mental capacity and the donor’s access to their accounts will be removed.

You can find out more about enduring powers of attorney on the GOV.UK website here: https://www.gov.uk/enduring-power-attorney-duties.

We also have a page about what an attorney can do.

And you can learn more about registering your power of attorney with HSBC.

A Court of Protection order can be issued when someone loses mental capacity and there’s no power of attorney in place. You can find out more at www.gov.uk.

The Court of Protection will appoint a deputy. This is a person to manage the affairs of someone who lacks the mental capacity to manage their own affairs.

Mental capacity

When you want to register a power of attorney with us, if you’re the attorney, we’ll ask you whether the donor retains the mental capacity to manage their financial affairs.

Mental capacity can be thought of as the ability to make your own decisions. You can find out more about mental incapacity and about the practical application of the 2005 Mental Capacity Act on the NHS website.

As an attorney, you may need to support someone you know who has lost the capacity to deal with their financial affairs. This government guide will provide you with information and links which you may find useful: Make decisions on behalf of someone.

Independence Service

We also have an Independence Service if you find it difficult to manage your finances but don’t want to rely entirely on someone else. You can open a Basic Bank Account Providing Independence. This allows you to carry on with day-to-day tasks such as food shopping and leisure activities, but with support from an attorney or deputy. Find out more about our Independence Service.

Types of Power of Attorney

What is a power of attorney?