Enduring Powers of Attorney
The purpose of these notes is to describe briefly the procedure under the Powers of Attorney Act 1987.
They must NOT be taken as a detailed statement of the procedure or the law, nor are they intended to be sufficient in themselves to enable a person to create and register an Enduring Power of Attorney.
The staff of the General Registry cannot give you legal advice. If you need such advice, you should obtain it from an advocate. Whilst not essential, it is strongly advised that, where the estate is substantial, Donors and Attorneys should seek legal advice.
For further information, attention is drawn to details of the Act, Rules and Regulations and forms shown at the end of these notes, copies of which are available from the Isle of Man Courts of Justice public counter or the Central Reference Library in Government Office.
If you want to make an Enduring Power of Attorney, the form, is available from the Public Counter, General Registry, Isle of Man Courts of Justice, Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3AR.
The General Registry carries out administrative functions on behalf of the Court. All enquiries, applications and notices should be addressed to the General Registry.
An Enduring Power of Attorney is a power of attorney which continues in force even after the maker of the power (the Donor) becomes mentally incapable of handling his/her affairs, provided that the power is registered.
The purpose of an Enduring Power of Attorney is to enable people, while they are still mentally capable to decide who they would like to deal with their affairs for them even if they become mentally incapable. Anyone over 18 years and mentally capable can be a Donor.
If there is any doubt about the Donor’s mental capacity at the time that the power is being considered, then the advice of a doctor should be sought.
An Enduring Power of Attorney must be in the exact form prescribed by the Enduring Power of Attorney Regulations 1987. Information is available - as detailed earlier in these notes- from the Public Counter in the Isle of Man Courts of Justice building.
The Donor should carefully consider what powers he/she wishes to give the Attorney(s), as they can be general or limited to certain matters. He/she should consider carefully the points made in the notes on the form.
The power may give the following authorities:
A general authority
A general power authorises the Attorney to carry out any transactions on the Donor’s behalf which the Donor is legally able to delegate to the Attorney
A specific authority
A specific power enables the Attorney to deal only with those aspects of the Donor’s affairs which have been specified in the power
A general or specific authority with restrictions and conditions
A general or specific power with restrictions and conditions authorises the Attorney to deal with all the Donor’s property or affairs except specified aspects: for example the power may exclude the Attorney’s right to sell the house in which the Donor resides: or it may direct that the Attorney is not to act until the power is registered
Whatever the authority given within the power it may not continue to be used once the Donor becomes mentally incapable unless an application is made to the Court for registration
When an application to register the power is made it should be accompanied by:
- the original Power of Attorney
- a letter from a Doctor confirming mental incapacity
- the fee of £30.00
The application will be acknowledged by the Court and the issue date of the Order will be 5 weeks from the date of receipt of the application. Upon issue of the Order the original power will be returned to the applicant(s) having been registered and sealed by the Court.
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