LegalAI[Space]

Private client · Private client fee-earner, attorney, care planning adviser

Review a lasting power of attorney before registration

A client has completed both property and health instruments with restrictions copied from a website. The review checks whether the restrictions are workable and whether any of the instructions would be severed when the forms are registered.

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Agents
Research, Drafting
First draft
A first review naming the problem clauses arrives from one run, before the form is sent for registration.

The problem

Instructions and preferences look interchangeable on the form and are not. An instruction that the attorneys must act jointly on every decision paralyses an account when one attorney is abroad, and an instruction that conflicts with the statutory scheme gets severed after registration, by which time the donor may no longer be able to make a new one.

  1. Step 01 of 05

    Add both instruments and the attendance note

    The property and financial affairs instrument, the health and welfare instrument and the fee-earner's attendance note on capacity go on one matter.

    Matters · Project Halcyon · SPA warranties and disclosureOpen

    Project Halcyon: SPA warranties and disclosure

    Buy-side warranty review, disclosure analysis and cited due-diligence grid.

    Client
    Halcyon Bidco Ltd
    Reference
    WC-2026-0412
    Practice area
    Corporate / M&A
    Jurisdiction
    England and Wales
    Responsible partner
    E. Vance
    No conflict check on file.

    Chat, on this matter

    Compare warranties with the disclosure letter.

    Three high-priority exceptions require action: the unregistered charge, the change-of-control right and the tribunal claim.

    Send a message… (@ to mention tools)BalancedPrepare for
    1. 25 Aug

      Disclosure exceptions matrix

      Chat

    2. 21 Aug

      Disclosure exceptions matrix

      Run · completed · 560 credits

    3. 18 Aug

      Project Halcyon: Disclosure Letter

      Document · indexed

    4. 16 Aug

      Project Halcyon: Share Purchase Agreement

      Document · indexed

    5. 4 Aug

      Matter opened

      Opened

  2. Step 02 of 05

    Run the review

    Prepare for: Standard. The instruction separates instructions from preferences, tests each against the statutory scheme, and asks which would be severed on registration.

    Agents · Contract Agent · New runMatter: Northgate · senior associate hire

    Agent

    Jurisdiction

    Prepare for

    Deliver as

    Instruction

    What should the agent look for?

    Documents

    Drop a contract, or pick one from the matter

    Also on the matter

    • Offer_letter_v3.pdf2 pages
    • Staff_handbook_2025.docx61 pages
    • Board_minute_14_Aug.pdf3 pages
    Platform model · zero data retention · audit register on

  3. Step 03 of 05

    Read the severance risk

    Two instructions are identified as likely to be severed, including one directing the attorneys to make gifts beyond what the scheme allows.

    Agents · Contract Agent · Employment Contract Compliance ReviewCompleted
    6 items need your confirmation14 authorities · Where we looked

    Senior Associate Employment Contract: English Law Review

    Summary

    1. 1.

      Clause 9(c), non-competeHigh

      The 12-month prohibition on working for any law firm anywhere in the UK, Ireland or EU, in any capacity, is almost certainly wider than reasonably necessary and therefore unlikely to be enforceable.

      Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32
    2. 2.

      Clause 11, data and monitoringHigh

      Blanket contractual consent is not an adequate basis for general employment processing, special-category data or unrestricted monitoring.

      UK GDPR, Arts 6 and 9
    3. 3.

      Clause 4, holiday carry-overHigh

      The unconditional five-day cap conflicts with mandatory carry-over rights where sickness, statutory leave or employer failure prevents leave being taken.

      Working Time Regulations 1998, regs 13 to 13A

  4. Step 04 of 05

    Test the joint appointment

    A chat question on what happens if one of three jointly appointed attorneys dies returns the practical consequence for the whole instrument.

    Matters · 14 Rowan Court, Flat 9 · ResearchSources ranked
    Matter: 14 Rowan CourtEngland and WalesResearch Agent
     
    Prepare for: Court-Ready · Deliver as: Word

    Where we looked

    • 1Your documentsLease, demand, correspondence
    • 2Primary law3 statutes, 1 judgment
    • 3Regulators and the recordNothing needed
    • 4Web searchOff for this question

    Authorities · 4

    • 1

      Law of Property Act 1925, s 146

      c 20
      not yet checked
    • 2

      Housing Act 1996, s 81

      c 52
      not yet checked
    • 3

      Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, s 168

      c 15
      not yet checked
    • 4

      Escalus Properties Ltd v Robinson

      [1996] QB 231 (CA)
      not yet checked

  5. Step 05 of 05

    Redraft before signature

    Replacement wording is produced for both instruments, and the action items cover re-executing rather than amending the signed forms.

    Agents · Contract Agent · Employment Contract Compliance ReviewCompleted

    • Replace the UK/Ireland/EU non-compete with a 3 to 6 month restriction tied to competing corporate-law work.

    • Replace blanket data consent with a lawful-basis clause and a separate monitoring notice.

    • Remove the five-day carry-over cap and reference the statutory carry-over rules.

    • Narrow the client non-solicit to clients dealt with in the final 12 months.

    • Add an explicit working-time opt-out withdrawal mechanism.

    • Confirm the bonus clause states the discretion is exercised in good faith.

What comes back

A document, not a transcript.

  • Instructions and preferences separated, with each instruction tested against the statutory scheme.
  • The two instructions likely to be severed on registration, with the reason for each.
  • A practical note on the joint appointment and what a single attorney's death would do to it.
  • Replacement wording for both instruments and an action item on re-execution rather than amendment.

Authorities it checks

  • Mental Capacity Act 2005, ss 1 to 4
  • Mental Capacity Act 2005, ss 9 to 14
Every source it may cite

What it does not do

  • It does not certify capacity. That is the certificate provider's function and the review does not stand in for it.
  • It does not register the instruments or correspond with the Office of the Public Guardian.
  • It does not advise the donor. A fee-earner takes instructions and explains the effect of each restriction.

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