Choosing attorneys:
who to ask, and how
to actually ask them

What you are actually asking someone to do

Before thinking about who to ask, it helps to be clear about what the role involves. An attorney is not simply someone who signs a form. They may one day have to manage your finances entirely, make decisions about your care home, or consent to medical treatment on your behalf - while you are unable to communicate, and under conditions of considerable emotional pressure.

The two types of LPA ask for different things from the people you appoint.

The qualities that matter most

When thinking through who to appoint, four qualities are worth weighing deliberately:

• Trust, absolutely. This is the irreducible minimum. Your attorney will have access to your accounts, your medical information, and your deepest personal circumstances. They must be someone whose integrity is beyond question in your mind.
• Knowledge of you. An attorney who knows your values, your preferences, and how you think is far better positioned than one who will be guessing. Particularly for health decisions, someone who knows you well can apply your values to situations your LPA document could not anticipate.
• Availability and capacity. Someone who lives overseas, has significant health problems of their own, or is already stretched with their own family and professional commitments may not be practically available when the role requires them. Good intentions are not a substitute for being able to act.
• Emotional resilience. Estate administration and care decisions happen in circumstances of grief, stress, and sometimes conflict. The person you appoint needs to be able to function in those conditions - to make decisions, hold to them, and deal with disagreement from other family members without being paralysed.

There are also some basic eligibility requirements. Attorneys must be 18 or over. A bankrupt person cannot act as a property and financial affairs attorney, but bankruptcy does not automatically prevent someone acting under a Health and Welfare LPA.

Who people typically choose

Most people appoint a spouse or civil partner, an adult child, or a close sibling. All of these can work well, and all come with considerations worth thinking through.

A spouse is often the natural first choice - but if your spouse is older than you, or in poor health, they may not be the right long-term choice for a financial LPA. Appoint them by all means, but consider a replacement attorney who steps in if they are unable to act.

An adult child is often an excellent choice - they typically have genuine knowledge of you and a strong motivation to act in your interests. If you appoint more than one child, think carefully about how you want them to act: jointly, requiring agreement on every decision, or jointly and severally, where each can act independently.

A sibling can be right in some circumstances, particularly where there are no adult children or where the relationship is especially close. Consider whether age and health make them a realistic long-term appointment.

Joint vs jointly and severally: why it matters

If you appoint two or more attorneys, you must decide how they act together.

Naming replacement attorneys

A replacement attorney steps in if your original attorney is unable or unwilling to continue. This is an appointment most people treat as an afterthought - and one that can prove critical.

Circumstances change in ways you cannot predict. An attorney may predecease you. They may lose their own mental capacity. They may find the role too burdensome, or their own circumstances - a divorce, a serious illness, a move abroad - may make them unable to continue. Without a named replacement, the LPA may fail at exactly the moment it is needed most.

Choosing a replacement is worth as much thought as choosing the primary attorney. A sensible choice is someone who already knows you - perhaps the person who would have been your first choice if the primary attorney did not exist.

How to have the conversation

Before naming someone in an LPA, ask them. This is not just a courtesy - an attorney who has agreed to the role, understands what it involves, and has had the opportunity to ask questions is far better prepared than one who discovers the appointment through a solicitor's letter after you have lost capacity.

The conversation is simpler than most people expect. Explain what an LPA is and what the role involves. Be honest about what you are asking - that it may never be needed, or that it may require years of sustained effort. Give them the chance to ask questions and to say no. Most people, when asked sincerely and with proper explanation, are honoured rather than burdened.

Document the conversation. A brief note - when you spoke, what was agreed - placed with your LPA papers costs nothing and helps avoid any later uncertainty about whether consent was given.

When to review your choice

An attorney appointment made in good faith at one stage of life may not remain the right choice indefinitely. The key triggers for review are:

• A significant change in your relationship with the attorney
• The attorney's own health or circumstances changing materially
• A change in your own circumstances - remarriage, a move, significant change in assets
• The death or incapacity of your named attorney
• A substantial passage of time since the LPA was made

An annual review of your estate planning - including who your attorneys are and whether those choices still reflect your wishes - is the simplest way to ensure the appointment remains right. It is included as standard for every Prime Wills client.