Commentary on Sections Part 5 – Lasting Powers of Attorney Chapter 1 - Lasting Powers of Attorney Section 102 – Appointment of two or more attorneys
The donor can create a LPA naming two or more persons as attorney. The instrument may appoint them to act jointly: that is they must all act together, as a unit, in making decisions and any failure by one attorney to comply with the appointment and registration processes for attorneys invalidates the LPA instrument. Alternatively, they may be appointed to act jointly and severally, which means that they may all act together or each of them may act separately, independently of the others. Here a failure by one attorney to comply with the appointment and registration processes only invalidates that attorney’s ability to act (the other attorneys can continue to act on any matters deemed ‘jointly and severally’). As a third possibility, they may be appointed to act jointly in respect of some matters and jointly and severally in respect of other matters. But where this is not specified it is assumed they will act jointly.