Power of Attorney in Northern Ireland: EPA Explained

Northern Ireland has not introduced the Lasting Power of Attorney used in England and Wales. It still relies on the enduring power of attorney (EPA), which covers only property and financial affairs, registered with the High Court's Office of Care and Protection once you are losing capacity.

What Is an Enduring Power of Attorney in Northern Ireland?

An enduring power of attorney is a legal document that lets a person (the donor) appoint someone they trust (the attorney) to manage their property and financial affairs, and which keeps working even if the donor later becomes mentally incapable. This is what marks it out from an ordinary power of attorney, which ends the moment the donor loses capacity. In Northern Ireland, EPAs are governed by the Enduring Powers of Attorney (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, not the Mental Capacity Act 2005 that applies in England and Wales. Northern Ireland has not adopted the Lasting Power of Attorney at all. The donor must be over 18 and mentally capable of understanding the nature of an EPA at the time they make it, and can limit the powers given, for example excluding the sale of a house while allowing everyday banking.

What an EPA Covers, and What It Does Not

An EPA in Northern Ireland covers property and financial affairs only, such as bank accounts, bills, investments, and property. There is currently no separate statutory power of attorney in Northern Ireland for health and welfare decisions, unlike the health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney available in England and Wales or the welfare power of attorney available in Scotland. Where someone in Northern Ireland lacks the capacity to make a health or welfare decision and has not put anything else in place, that decision is made in their best interests by those caring for them, guided by common law principles, with the High Court available for serious or disputed cases. An EPA cannot be used to authorise or refuse medical treatment on the donor's behalf.

Using an EPA Before You Lose Capacity

Unless the document restricts this, an EPA can be used as soon as the attorney has signed it, even while the donor still has full mental capacity. This lets an attorney help with everyday matters such as banking or bill payments, or step in temporarily if the donor is abroad or unwell, without waiting for any loss of capacity. Registration with the Office of Care and Protection is not required at this stage. The donor can cancel or amend the EPA at any time while they remain mentally capable of doing so. The EPA must be made in the prescribed form and executed by both the donor and the attorney to be valid.

The Duty to Register With the Office of Care and Protection

An EPA works differently once the donor is losing capacity. As soon as the attorney has reason to believe the donor is becoming, or has become, mentally incapable of managing their own affairs, the attorney is under a legal duty to apply to register the EPA with the Office of Care and Protection, an office of the High Court sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. Registration involves giving notice to the donor and specified relatives, who have an opportunity to object before the registration is completed. An attorney who continues to act on an unregistered EPA after the donor has lost capacity, without applying to register it, is not acting properly under the 1987 Order.

The Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016: Passed but Not Fully in Force

The Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 was passed by the Assembly and is intended, once fully commenced, to bring mental capacity and mental health law together in a single framework, including a broader capacity-related decision-making regime. Only parts of it have come into operation so far, including research safeguards from October 2019 and provisions on deprivation of liberty and money and valuables held in hospitals and care homes from December 2019. Its wider provisions have not been fully commenced as of this article's publication. Until that happens, the enduring power of attorney under the 1987 Order remains the instrument people actually use in Northern Ireland, and this article treats the EPA as the current position, not the 2016 Act's eventual regime.

If There Is No EPA: Applying to Become a Controller

If a person in Northern Ireland loses mental capacity without a registered or registerable EPA in place, nobody, including a spouse or adult child, automatically gains authority to manage their property and financial affairs. Instead, a family member, friend, or professional adviser must apply to the Office of Care and Protection to be appointed as a Controller, under the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. The application requires a medical certificate confirming the person's incapacity and formal notice served on them. A Controller's authority is set by the court order appointing them, covers property and financial matters only, and is subject to ongoing supervision, including submitting accounts to the Office of Care and Protection.

Who Can Be an Attorney or a Controller

An attorney under an EPA can be a family member, friend, solicitor, or other trusted adult, and more than one attorney can be appointed. The donor must have understood what they were creating at the time of signing; a later diagnosis does not undo a validly made EPA. A Controller is typically a relative or friend of the person who has lost capacity, though a Court Officer or the Official Solicitor can be appointed if no suitable person is available or family members disagree over who should act. Unlike choosing an attorney in advance, a Controller is chosen and appointed by the court, not by the person who has lost capacity.

How Northern Ireland Differs From England, Wales, and Scotland

Power of attorney law is not shared across the UK. England and Wales use the Lasting Power of Attorney under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, with separate property and financial affairs and health and welfare versions, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. Scotland uses Continuing and Welfare Powers of Attorney under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). Northern Ireland has adopted neither model. It still uses the enduring power of attorney under the 1987 Order, covering property and financial affairs only, registered with the Office of Care and Protection only once the donor is losing capacity. A document made under one nation's system has no automatic effect in the other two. The Republic of Ireland is a separate country with its own regime; see enduring power of attorney in Ireland.

This article is general information about enduring powers of attorney and controllership in Northern Ireland, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for making one. It does not draft an EPA for you. Take advice from a solicitor, the Office of Care and Protection, Advice NI, or Age NI before making or registering an EPA, or before applying to become a Controller.

For the wider picture of wills, probate, and inheritance across the UK, see our UK wills and probate hub, part of our broader guide to United Kingdom law. Related guides include the Lasting Power of Attorney used in England and Wales, power of attorney in Scotland, and deputyship and the Court of Protection.