4. Decide how much to pay your attorney

Your attorney can pay themselves out of your money. But the law says how much this can be, based on:

• the amount of your money that your attorney deals with, and
• the total value of all your money and property.

Your attorney can take a compensation fee and a management fee.

A compensation fee is a payment for the work and time your attorney spends acting as your attorney. The standard compensation fee is not more than:

• 3% of any money that comes into your estate, which is called “capital and income receipts”, and
• 3% of any money going out of your estate, which is called “capital and income disbursements”

A management fee is a payment that's based on the average value of all your property in a year. The standard management fee is not more than 0.6% of this amount.

If you want to set a different amount or don't want your attorney to be paid at all, you must put this in your Power of Attorney.

But even if your attorney is not paid, they can get money back for any expenses they pay on your behalf. For example, if your attorney buys groceries or a wheelchair for you using their own money, they can take money from your bank account to cover these expenses.