Are you allowed to be paid for acting as an attorney?

Are you allowed to be paid for acting as an attorney? The short answer is that if you are a family member or friend acting as an attorney, then you are not permitted to be paid for carrying out your role as attorney. If you are a professional, and you are carrying out your role in your professional capacity, then you can be paid for doing this, provided that the Lasting Power of Attorney document clearly authorises this.

However, as an attorney, whether professional or not, you are permitted to receive ‘out of pocket’ expenses. There can be some confusion about what counts as an ‘out of pocket’ expense. Out of pocket expenses certainly cover the following:

• Professional costs incurred as an attorney such as instructing an accountant to complete the donor’s tax return
• Reasonable travel costs incurred in carrying out your role as attorney, for example petrol or train costs incurred visiting a property owned by the donor, that is to be sold in order to meet an estate agent there. However, this does not extend to travel costs for meeting the donor. This would be expected to come from the attorney’s own funds, out of a natural love and affection for the donor.
• Stationary such as ink and paper required in carrying out the role of attorney.
• Phone calls required in the performance of your role.
• Food and clothing for the donor if they are unable to purchase this for themselves.
• Paying for necessary care for the donor.

A clear record should be kept of all expenditure, ideally on a dedicated spreadsheet, and receipts kept, and this is confirmed by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), who monitor and supervise attorneys. The OPG could ask for this information to provided to them at any time.

Further, where possible, any larger or regular items such as clothing, care and food, should be met from the donor’s own funds rather than being met by the attorney and reclaimed. An attorney should always keep their own personal funds separate to that of the donor, if this is at all possible to do so.

The OPG take a firm view about whether an expense benefits the donor or the attorney.  It does not extend to things such as purchasing computers or cars to assist with fulfilling their role, as occurred in the case of Re GM: MJ and JM v The Public Guardian [2023] EWHC 2966 (COP), as this would fall into the realm of gifting, and specific authority would need to be sought from the Court of Protection to authorise the same.

If you have any questions about whether expenditure is authorised as an out of pocket attorney expense, or concerns about the spending of an attorney that you know, please get in touch with one of our specialist team.