Power of Attorney

Setting up a Power of Attorney (POA) with myM&G

What is a Power of Attorney?

A POA is a legal agreement which provides the authority for one or more people (the “attorneys”) to act for another person (the “donor”) in specified or all legal or financial matters. The donor usually provides their agreement to the other people acting on their behalf, and the circumstances where this authority is put in place. A Court of Protection order (COP) is a similar legal agreement, but where a court, rather than the donor, has given the authority for one or more people (the “deputies”) to act on the donor’s behalf.

The different types of POA and COP documents

Both POA and COP documents can be for a number of different circumstances – for example, they can be set up to allow attorneys or deputies to make decisions about a donor’s property, financial affairs and/or personal welfare. If we receive any POA or COP documentation, we will verify that the powers allow the attorneys or deputies to act on the donor’s myM&G account.

If there is more than one attorney or deputy, the powers may be held jointly (where all attorneys/deputies must consent to any action on the donor’s account) or jointly and severally (where any attorney/deputy may act on behalf of the donor without the explicit consent of the other attorneys or deputies). Once an attorney or deputy has access to a donor’s myM&G account, they will be able to place an instruction on the account but must confirm that, where required, they have the agreement of the other attorneys or deputies.

If you have a POA or COP document which has been registered overseas, please contact us in order to discuss what is required in your specific circumstances.

How to set one up

If you have not yet set up a POA or COP, you will need to complete the appropriate legal forms and follow the formal process set out by the government to legally set up and register a POA/COP. Further information can be found at the websites below:

www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

www.gov.uk/become-deputy

How to register a POA or COP with myM&G

If the donor is a new investor, please call us on 0808 178 4035 and we will talk you through the next steps.

If the donor is an existing myM&G or M&G investor once the appropriate POA or COP has been set up, you will need to:

• Send a completed POA Notification Form to us at myM&G, 1 Tanfield, Edinburgh, EH3 5DA. This must be signed by all attorneys/deputies and, where possible, by the donor.
• If you are moving your M&G investment to myM&G and have already registered your Attorney details with M&G please tick the box on the form to confirm this.
• If you have not already registered your Attorney details with M&G or the donor is an existing myM&G investor please send the original or a certified copy of the POA or COP to us with your POA Notification Form. Certified documents should confirm that the document is a true and complete copy of the original and can be certified by one of the following, bearing an original signature on every page: Solicitor, Donor, Stockbroker, Notary Public, or Commissioner for Oaths. The certifier’s full name, capacity and contact details should also be provided.
• Alternatively, for Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) registered on or after 1 September 2019 you can provide us with an LPA access code on the POA Notification Form to allow us to view the LPA details we require online. You can find details of how to do this at www.gov.uk/use-lasting-power-of-attorney
• Make sure that all attorneys or deputies who want access to the donor’s myM&G account have registered themselves on myM&G. We can then give all attorneys/deputies who have registered on myM&G access to the donor’s myM&G account. Please note that we will need to verify the identities of all attorneys/deputies registered on myM&G as well as the donor.

How to access the donor’s myM&G account

Once we have given attorneys/deputies access to the donor’s account, each attorney or deputy will be able log in to myM&G as usual and then simply select the Power of Attorney menu option in ‘My account’. This will enable the attorney or deputy to log in to the donor’s myM&G account and act as the donor.

POA Notification form

• Click here to open the POA Notification Form.

• This form provides us with the authorisation to set up a POA/COP with myM&G.

Click here to see our FAQs and further information on POAs