Powers Of Attorney vs Guardianships – Explaining The Differences

Many of us presume that if we were no longer capable of looking after ourselves that our family would be able to step in and make decisions on our behalf. Unfortunately, however, this is a common misconception. In these circumstances, your family do not have any legal authority to do this.

As you can imagine, this has the potential to cause many practical difficulties. For example, if you lose capacity, no one will be able to manage your finances, sell your property or make decisions about your care.

A power of attorney is the solution. A power of attorney must be granted while you have capacity. It allows you to choose a person (or people) to act on your behalf in the event that you unable to make decisions about your finances, property, health or welfare. In short, it gives the people you trust the power to manage your affairs.