Lasting powers of attorney guidelines for valid gifts to third parties

The England and Wales Court of Protection has recently set out guidelines for persons appointed as Attorneys under a Lasting Powers of Attorney (‘LPA’) to use when deciding whether they can spend the donor’s funds for the benefit of other parties.

These guidelines have been presented by the Court of Protection in the form of a decision tree, setting out the thinking process to be followed in the day-to-day context of a lay person acting as Attorney, making arrangements for management of the funds and contemplating whether they can use the donor’s funds to benefit someone else.

Dawn Parkes, Private Client Specialist and Hatch Brenner Managing Partner commented: “The decision tree produced by the Court of Protection will form a very useful tool for Attorneys who may be considering the correct actions concerning gifting. It is often assumed by Attorneys that they cannot benefit themselves or give away donor money, but there are exceptions to this. If the donor has habitually given funds to charity, or passed on monetary gifts to family members, friends or the Attorney themselves, perhaps at Christmas, it is acceptable for the appointed Attorneys to continue to use the donor’s funds to benefit someone other than the donor, providing there are enough funds available.”

Click here to read more information about Powers of Attorney and to find the decision tree as a downloadable pdf file.

For any queries relating to Lasting Powers of Attorney, or gifting, please contact Hatch Brenner Managing Partner Dawn Parkes on 01603 214 220 or at [email protected]

For more information, please view an article on the STEP website: https://www.step.org/news/england-and-wales-court-protection-sets-out-rules-valid-gifts-third-parties

Dawn Parkes, Hatch Brenner Managing Partner