WhyPowerof Attorney is so important

A Power of Attorney (POA) allows you to give authority to a trusted family member or friend to carry out financial or medical decisions on your behalf, when you are unable to through illness or incapacity.

And it’s even more important than you may realise.

Firstly, because it’s needed more often than you may think. People commonly assume that a POA only comes into play if someone is incapacitated by the likes of a coma or dementia, but the situation today is a lot more complex.

“Incapacity can be as simple as you are too medicated e.g. on pain relief, or your temperature is too high – so if someone is running a temperature when they’re in the hospital, then they may be unable to make a decision for themselves,” says Tony Marchi, principal at ILAWS Scotland.

Secondly, without POA, your spouse and partner won’t be able to make decisions on your behalf – this can cause delays in treatment and put even more stress on your loved ones at a difficult time.

Tony explains: “If you’re admitted to hospital, the first thing they’ll do is ask if you’ve got Power of Attorney – they used to ask for your next of kin, but now it is Power of Attorney.”

ILAWS can help you organise a POA (and a Will at the same time, if you choose to) to give you and your family peace of mind, whatever happens.