Are You Allowed To Be Paid For Acting As An Attorney?

Are you allowed to be paid for acting as an attorney? The short answer is that if you are a family member or friend acting as an attorney, then you are not permitted to be paid for carrying out your role as attorney. If you are a professional, and you are carrying out your role in your professional capacity, then you can be paid for doing this, provided that the Lasting Power of Attorney document clearly authorises this.

However, as an attorney, whether professional or not, you are permitted to receive 'out of pocket' expenses. There can be some confusion about what counts as an 'out of pocket' expense. Out of pocket expenses certainly cover the following:

• Professional costs incurred as an attorney such as instructing an accountant to complete the donor's tax return