Types of Power of Attorney

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.