A Power of Attorney is a document designed to give authority to a person you trust to manage your wealth and make  financial decisions on your behalf.

There are several powers of attorney, but the most common are the general power of attorney and the enduring power of attorney. The general power of attorney is designed to provide authority for a particular event only. For instance,  if you wish to sale your house but have to urgently travel abroad, you may want to ask a solicitor to draft a general power of attorney giving authority to a person to act on your behalf on the sale of your house.  In this case, the person appointed under the general power of attorney would only have authority to sale the house. The power stops there.  

An enduring power of attorney is a similar document giving rights to a person you trust to manage your finances but the document has wider applicability. Under an enduring power of attorney, you give a person the authority to deal with all of your finances, even after you loose mental capacity. 

An Appointment of Enduring Guardian is a document where you give authority to some else to make lifestyle decisions on your behalf when you are no longer able to do it, either because you have lost the capacity to do it or because you are housebound. 

An experienced wills & estates solicitor should be able to help with Powers of Attorney and Enduring Guardian documents that will suit your particular needs so as to avoid costly problems or delays in the future.