The lasting power of attorney in English Law typically came into force on 1 October 2021 and was designed to replace the former indefinitely. The LPO replaced the former general powers of attorney that were much more limited in scope. In essence, they offered a much more limited form of power of attorney to help protect and allocate some limited forms of estate and inheritance. This is in contrast to the muscles in England in the period immediately before introducing the LPO in 2021, where there were far more flexibility and opportunity for people to exercise more control and authority.

Before introducing the power of attorney system in England, there was no way a person could restrict the assets that an attorney was allowed to access. If the attorney took part in any negotiations regarding a client's property, then the attorney had complete and absolute power over those assets. There was even more of a problem with any disputes that arose as the result of those negotiations. The lasting power of attorney easily be abused, and it was difficult to protect any assets from a disgruntled spouse who wished to gain control over the property owned by the agent.

These problems were taken care of with the introduction of the power of attorney system, and now an attorney has minimal power to act on someone else's behalf. Whenever there is an agreement about the agent's assets and the attorney, or when a request is made for information or documents from the attorney, a power of attorney must give consent to disclose them. Without this consent, the attorney cannot act. However, if the agent agrees to tell them, then the agent can still receive some limited benefit from those disclosed documents.

This limited and defined power of attorney significantly limits an attorney general's ability to act on another person's behalf. This can only occur if the attorney general is acting in good faith. If the agent fails to follow this requirement, then the courts will take a power of attorney away from them.

What can happen if the attorney general does not follow this requirement? The courts have created certain conditions that must be met before the attorney general can transfer power of attorney. First, the attorney general must act in good faith. If the attorney fails to do this or does something that is seen as inconsistent or improper, the court can revoke its license. If they commit fraud, they must pay back any money that they have been illegally borrowed and reinstate their fees.

But once you have revoked the license? Well, what happens? In most states, once an attorney general revokes their consent, they are required to resign. This means that they can no longer practice in the state. Unless they choose to surrender their license, they are prohibited from trying to practice in other states. This can be a massive problem if you want to travel, teach or conduct business in another state.

There are ways around this, however. If the attorney general's spouse has an active power of attorney general, they can sign the document as if they were the attorney general. Since they are married, they can be sure that it will stay in effect. Once the spouse signs it, a power of attorney is not considered revoked.

As you can see, if an attorney general's spouse has an active power of attorney for you, then you may want to consider letting them know about it. It allows them to continue practising law while being aware that you have someone controlling your estate in the event of your illness or disability. As long as everything is done legally and by the law, you will have complete control of your assets and will be able to decide what to do with them when you are no longer here. You never know when you might have a stroke or a heart attack that takes you away from the world for a while, so it is always better to plan and make sure that the powers that be don't take the wealth you have earned through your work and make it their own.