Law of Property Act 1925

Powers of Attorney.

123 Execution under power of attorney.

(1) The donee of a power of attorney may, if he thinks fit, execute or do any assurance, instrument, or thing in and with his own name and signature, and under his own seal, where sealing is required, by the authority of the donor of the power; and every assurance, instrument, and thing so executed and done shall be as effectual in law, to all intents, as if it had been executed or done by the donee of the power in the name and with the signature and seal of the donor thereof.

(2) This section applies to powers of attorney created by instruments executed either before or after the commencement of this Act, and operates without prejudice to any statutory direction that an instrument is to be executed in the name of an estate owner.

124 Payment by attorney under power without notice of death, &c.

(1) Any person making any payment or doing any act, in good faith, in pursuance of a power of attorney, shall not be liable in respect of the payment or act by reason that before the payment or act the donor of the power had died or become subject to disability or bankrupt, or had revoked the power, if the fact of death, disability, bankruptcy, or revocation was not at the time of the payment or act known to the person making or doing the same.

(2) A statutory declaration by an attorney to the effect that he has not received any notice or information of the revocation of such power of attorney by death or otherwise shall, if made immediately before or within three months after any such payment or act as aforesaid, be taken to be conclusive proof of such non-revocation at the time when such payment or act was made or done.

Where the donee of the power of attorney is a corporation aggregate, the officer appointed to act for the corporation in the execution of the power may make the statutory declaration in like manner as if that officer had been the donee of the power.

Where probate or letters of administration have been granted to any person, as attorney for some other person, this section applies as if the payment made or acts done under the grant had been made or done under a power of attorney.

(3) This section does not affect any right against the payee of any person interested in any money so paid; and that person shall have the like remedy against the payee as he would have had against the payer if the payment had not been made by him.

(4) This section applies to payments and acts made and done before or after the commencement of this Act, and in this section "power of attorney" includes a power of attorney implied by statute.

125 Powers of attorney relating to land to be filed.

(1) Where an instrument creating a power of attorney confers a power to dispose of or deal with any interest in or charge upon land, the instrument or a certified copy thereof or of such portions thereof as refer to or are necessary to the interpretation of such power shall be filed at the Central Office pursuant to the statutory enactment in that behalf, unless the instrument only relates to one transaction and is to be handed over on the completion of that transaction :

Provided that, if the instrument relates to land or a charge registered under the Land Registration Act, 1925, the instrument or a certified copy thereof or of such portions thereof as aforesaid shall be filed at the Land Registry, and it shall not be necessary to file it at the Central Office unless it also relates to land or a charge not so registered, in which case the instrument or a certified copy thereof or of such portions thereof as aforesaid shall be filed at the Central Office and an office copy shall be filed at the Land Registry.

(2) Notwithstanding any stipulation to the contrary, a purchaser of any interest in or charge upon land (not being land or a charge registered as aforesaid) shall be entitled to have any instrument creating a power of attorney which affects his title, or an office copy thereof or of the material portions thereof delivered to him free of expense.

(3) This section only applies to instruments executed after the commencement of this Act, and no right to rescind a contract shall arise by reason of the enforcement of the provisions of this section.

126 Effect of irrevocable power of attorney for value.

(1) If a power of attorney given for valuable consideration is in the instrument creating the power expressed to be irrevocable, then, in favour of a purchaser,—

(i) The power shall not be, revoked, at any time, either by anything done by the donor of the power without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or by the death, disability or bankruptcy of the donor of the power; and

(ii) Any act done at any time by the donee of the power in pursuance of the power shall be as valid as if anything done by the donor of the power without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or the death, disability or bankruptcy of the donor of the power, had not been done or happened; and

(iii) Neither the donee of the power nor the purchaser shall at any time be prejudicially affected by notice of anything done by the donor of the power without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or of the death, disability or bankruptcy of the donor of the power.

(2) This section applies to powers of attorney created by instruments executed after the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-two.

127 Effect of power of attorney irrevocable for a fixed time.

(1) If a power of attorney, whether given for valuable consideration or not, is in the instrument creating the power expressed to be irrevocable for a fixed time therein specified, not exceeding one year from the date of the instrument, then, in favour of a purchaser,—

(i) The power shall not be revoked for and during that fixed time either by anything done by the donor of the power without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or by the death, disability or bankruptcy of the donor of the power; and

(ii) Any act done within that fixed time by the donee of the power in pursuance of the power shall be as valid as if anything done by the donor of the power without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or the death, disability or bankruptcy of the donor of the power, had not been done or happened; and

(iii) Neither the donee of the power, nor the purchaser, shall at any time be prejudicially affected by notice either during or after that fixed time of anything done by the donor of the power during that fixed time without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or of the death, disability or bankruptcy of the donor of the power, within that fixed time.

(2) This section applies to powers of attorney created by instruments executed after the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-two.

128 Devolution of power of attorney given to a purchaser.

(1) A power of attorney given for valuable consideration may be given, and shall be deemed to have been always capable of being given, to a purchaser of property or any interest therein, and to the persons deriving title under him thereto, and those persons shall be the duly constituted attorneys for all the purposes of the power, but without prejudice to any right to appoint substitutes given by the power.

(2) This section applies to powers of attorney created by instruments executed after the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-two.

(3) This section does not authorise the persons deriving title under the donee of the power to execute, on behalf of the registered proprietor, an instrument relating to registered land to which effect is to be given on the register, unless the power is protected by a caution or other entry on the register.

129 Power of attorney granted by married woman.

(1) A married woman, whether an infant or not, has power, as if she were unmarried and of full age, by deed, to appoint an attorney on her behalf for the purpose of executing any deed or doing any other act which she might herself execute or do, and the provisions of this Act relating to instruments creating powers of attorney apply thereto.

(2) This section applies to deeds executed after the thirty-first day of December, eighteen hundred and eighty-one.