Can you be an attorney for Lasting Power of Attorney if you are on the Insolvency Register?
This blog explores bankruptcy, the Individual Insolvency Register and how these impact on Lasting Power of Attorney. The specific question, can you be an attorney for Lasting Power of Attorney if you are on the insolvency register? will be answered and is in response to questions I have been asked.
There is a multitude of terminology in this blog so, to set the scene, I will explain some of the key words.
Lasting Power of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that enables you (the donor) to nominate a person or people (known as attorneys) to support you to make decisions or make decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity to do so. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney, one for Health and Welfare and one for Property and Finance; please note that information in this blog relates to the Property and Finance Lasting Power of Attorney only.
Individual Insolvency Register
The Individual Insolvency Register is an “amalgamation of the individual insolvency, bankruptcy restrictions and debt relief restrictions registers. The Insolvency Service is required by statute to maintain these registers, keep them up to date and make them available for public inspection.”
GOV.UK Individual Insolvency Register (IIR)
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a way for people to manage debt they cannot pay enabling them to make a clean start free from debt. A person can be made bankrupt for the following reasons:
· A person cannot pay what is owed and wants to declare themselves bankrupt
· Creditors apply for a person to be made bankrupt because £5000.00 or more is owed
· A person is made bankrupt because terms of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement have been broken
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is an agreement between a person and their creditors to pay all or part of a debt or debts. This can be a more controlled way of managing assets than bankruptcy.
I have written more about IVAs in an earlier blog Can you be an attorney for a Lasting Power of Attorney if you have an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)?
Debt Relief Order (DRO)
A Debt Relief Order (DRO) is a way of managing personal debt that cannot be paid. An application must be made through an approved debt advisor and there are eligibility criteria. A DRO will usually last for 12 months once it has been approved.
Can You Be an Attorney for Lasting Power of Attorney if You Are on the Insolvency Register?
The answer is no, it is not possible to be an attorney for Property and Finance if you are on the Insolvency Register. It is also important to know that even once a DRO has ended a person will be on the Insolvency Register for three months.
To understand in full, I spoke to the helpful team at the Office of the Public Guardian; I wanted to know if a Lasting Power of Attorney could be commenced when a person (attorney) was post DRO but still on the Insolvency Register and again the answer was no. This is a small nuance but I feel important to recognise and be aware of.
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