Power of Attorney 1971

[JohnMerlin]

I would like to give my sister a general POA to look after my financial affairs, mainly that she should be able to sell a property I own when I am abroad.

I have the wording but am just unsure who signs after the line "SIGNED as a Deed and Delivered by the said" at position 1 and 2?


THIS GENERAL POWER OF ATTORNEY is made

This ** day of ** year 20**

BY MR *************
OF *************
I APPOINT MRS ******* OF *****************

to be my attorney in accordance with section 10 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971.

IN WITNESS whereof I have here unto set my hand the day and year first above written.

SIGNED as a Deed and Delivered by the said




1?_________________________ 2?_________________________


In the presence of:

Signature __________________________
Full name __________________________
Address __________________________
__________________________
Occupation __________________________

[Lawcruncher]

It is like this:

THIS GENERAL POWER OF ATTORNEY is made

This ** day of ** year 20**

By JOHN SMITH of *************

I APPOINT MARY JONES OF *****************

to be my attorney in accordance with section 10 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1971.

IN WITNESS whereof I have here unto set my hand the day and year first above written.

SIGNED as a Deed and Delivered
by the said John Smith


In the presence of:

Signature __________________________
Full name __________________________
Address __________________________
__________________________
Occupation __________________________



John Smith signs to the right of the words in red.

Mary Jones does not need to sign.

[JohnMerlin]

Much appreciated.

Did you intentionally omit the Mr and Mrs from the names?

[Lawcruncher]

Did you intentionally omit the Mr and Mrs from the names?

Yes. It is not customary to insert Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms in the body of a document.

[JohnMerlin]

Very interesting.

What baffles me most about these General POA's is that this does not need to be done by a solicitor and doesnt need to be registered, so how can a Solicitor then take instructions, say to sell a property, when all the attorney has is a document with a signiature which could so easily be faked?

If the anwer is that the Solicitor would do due diligence by contacting the issuer, then would that not defeat the whole purpose?

[Lawcruncher]

This is the way the English legal system works and the same applies to all deeds. In "civil" jurisdictions important documents have to be executed before a notary who checks identities by examining passports or identity cards. Until such time (which currently looks like being a date close to infinity) as identity cards happen in the UK forgery remains easier than in many other places.

[Richard Webster]

I think that because of money -laundering legislation we would now have to make sure a power of attorney was genuine which in most cases would mean contacting the donor.

[JohnMerlin]

Can a close relative e.g a parent or sibling be the witness on a POA?

[Lawcruncher]

Can a close relative e.g a parent or sibling be the witness on a POA?

Strictly, yes, but on the whole witnesses to any deed should be independent.