By Sarah McDermott, Private Client Paralegal
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a document whereby you appoint someone, whom you trust, to act on your behalf in relation to your financial affairs and your health and welfare. Anybody over the age of 18 can make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).
The most popular type is the financial affairs LPA, which allows you to appoint attorneys to act on your behalf in relation to anything to do with your property and finances. This covers your home, bank accounts, investments, shares, ISAs, utilities, etc. You can choose when your LPA should be used; perhaps straight away, or maybe after obtaining a medical opinion that confirms that you have lost mental capacity and are unable to make decisions for yourself.
If you lose mental capacity for any reason, such as being involved in an accident, or by developing dementia, or having a stroke, then an LPA is most useful, as your attorney can continue to deal with your property and financial affairs, without assets getting frozen, bills going unpaid, etc.
The health and welfare LPA enables your attorney to make health and care decisions for you, including speaking to doctors or other medical professionals, organising care, liaising with social workers, and so on. This document also allows your attorney to make decisions about life sustaining treatment, if you want them to.
A healthcare attorney can act when you lose mental capacity and are unable to make decisions for yourself.
You can appoint one or more attorneys and you do not have to appoint the same person or people to act in connection with both your financial affairs and your health and welfare. However, a lot of the decisions that will need to be made are interlinked, and so it is advisable to have at least one of your attorneys appointed for both your financial affairs and your health and welfare.
LPAs must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used. This process takes around 10-12 weeks. There is a registration fee for each document that is registered. The Office of the Public Guardian is the governing body for LPAs, acting as a safeguard, and they can investigate should anyone think that the attorney is abusing their powers.
As the two different sorts of LPA are independent from each other, then you do not need to create both. However, having both does cover every eventuality, as, unfortunately, no one knows what is around the corner.
If you lose mental capacity and do not have an LPA in place, then someone, this could be a family member or it could be the local authority if you do not have any family who are willing to act on your behalf, must apply for a Court of Protection Deputyship Order. This is a costly and time-consuming process, with ongoing, yearly supervision fees payable to the Court of Protection.
Making LPAs is preferable to relying on the Deputyship process: it is cheaper and quicker, and, above all, it allows you to choose who you would like to make these very important decisions on your behalf.
If you would like further information on Lasting Powers of Attorney email Sarah at sarah@onionsanddavies.co.uk or make an appointment for advice by calling 01630 652405