You do not need to be an actual Attorney. Anyone can be an Attorney providing they are suitable and able to make decisions and are 18 years of age or more. If someone is bankrupt this can be a restriction to them being a Power of Attorney. 

You can also choose professional Attorneys such as solicitors, banks, accountants although they will charge for their services. 

Friends and family nominated as a Power of Attorney can claim back out of pocket expenses but only if this is agreed by you in the Lasting Power of Attorney. 

You can have as many Attorneys as you wish. This can either be joint Attorneys where they must agree and act together. The negative is if one loses mental capacity or dies the Power of Attorney comes to an end. 

Multiple Power of Attorneys can be appointed to act together and independently which may increase the risk of wrongdoing or fraud but means that the Power of Attorney will continue if something happens to one of the parties involved. 

• money, tax and bills
• bank and building society accounts
• property and investments
• pensions and benefits
• day to day items (for example, food, drinks).

Some decisions need to be made in conjunction with any health & welfare attorney, for example if a property is being sold and considerations are required as to the accommodation requirements of any new home. 

If you are thinking about drafting a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs some key things to consider are: 

• Who you will choose as your Attorney (the person making the decisions)?
• Any potential replacement Attorneys
• The people you will notify. 
• You should discuss in advance with the key people that you are making a Financial Decisions Lasting Power of Attorney.

In our Online Legal Document Library we have a Lasting Power of Attorney Pack for Property & Financial Affairs including (Click here to access the My Legal Club legal document library): 

1. LP1F Lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs
2. LP3 Notice of intention to register a lasting power of attorney

• LP1F Lasting power of attorney for property & financial affairs:

If some day you are no longer able to look after your own financial affairs, due to factors like illness, accident or the onset of dementia, this document will give that power to another person, called your ‘attorney’. Once the power comes into effect, your attorney (or attorneys) will have the legal authority to act on your behalf in property and financial matters.

You will need to register this document with the Office of the Public Guardian, who will charge a fee for this.

This document can only be used in England or Wales.

• LP3 Notice of intention to register a lasting power of attorney:

Before you register, send a form to notify people (LP3) to all the ‘people to notify’ (also called ‘people to be told’) you listed in the LPA. They’ll have 3 weeks to raise any concerns with OPG.

Before registering a lasting power of attorney (LPA) you must use this form to notify certain people of your intention to register it. These people, if any, will be listed in the LPA. This document will create a copy of the form for each person listed, for you to send to them.

It costs £82 to register each LPA unless you get a reduction or exemption.

You can apply for a reduction if you earn less than £12,000. You might also be able to apply for an exemption if you’re on certain benefits, such as Income Support.

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/register

• Certify the document correctly 
• Check the spelling of all people’s names very carefully.
• Use names of people and not their relationship to you e.g. your wife, your brother etc.

When you’ve made your lasting power of attorney (LPA), you need to register it with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

If you made an LPA online, you may have registered it at the same time. It’s registered when OPG has stamped it with ‘VALIDATED-OPG’.

It takes between 8 and 10 weeks to register an LPA if there are no mistakes in the application.

You can apply to register your LPA yourself if you’re able to make your own decisions.

Your attorney can also register it for you. You’ll be told if they do and you can object to the registration.

Follow the steps here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-a-lasting-power-of-attorney