What Are Lasting Powers Of Attorney?

It is a legal document by which a person appoints someone else (Attorney(s)) to be able to make decisions on their behalf in relation to property and financial matters and/or health and welfare matters.

We all hope to live out our years in reasonable health and maintaining our mental faculties. However, we  also have to be realistic and accept that this doesn’t always happen. Should you suffer ill health or incapacity in the future, having LPAs in place will be of massive benefit to you and your loved ones.

If you don’t have LPAs in place and you need help with making decisions in the future, the only alternative is to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputy to be appointed to manage your affairs and make decisions for you. Not only is this process very long-winded, complex and costly, but also you will not be choosing who makes decisions for you.

There are two types of LPA, one for property and financial decisions, and another for health and welfare
decisions. The sort of decisions that might need to be made include:

1. Property and finance
– Managing your property
– Managing your income and liabilities
– Making investment decisions

2. Health and welfare
– Care decisions
– Medical treatment decisions
– Where you live
– Your daily routine

We can help you with that. There are a lot of different things to consider to set up LPAs correctly and to ensure that they operate in your best interests. You need to decide who you are appointing, how your Attorney is to make decisions if you are appointing more than one, whether to appoint replacement Attorneys & how they can act, when the LPA can be used, and any instructions or guidance you wish to give. You will then need to get the LPA documents drawn up, signed, witnessed and someone appropriately qualified will need to provide a certificate to confirm your capacity to set up the LPAs. In order for the LPAs to be fully effective they will also need to be registered at the Office of the Public Guardian. We will guide you through the process from start to finish.

First of all, your LPAs must have been registered at the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used. We recommend that you register your LPAs as soon as they are set up, so as to avoid problems and delays at a later date. What your Attorneys will need to do will depend upon your individual circumstances and affairs. We can advise your attorneys on their duties and obligations, as well as the practical steps that they will need to take to manage your affairs, make decisions on your behalf and act in your best interests.

Even if a Lasting Power of Attorney has been registered at the Office of the Public Guardian it can still be amended, assuming the person who created the Lasting Power of Attorney still has mental capacity.

An Enduring Power of Attorney would have been prepared prior to 1 October 2007. Since then, the Lasting Powers of Attorney have replaced Enduring Powers of Attorney. Despite the introduction of Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney created prior to 1 October 2007 will still remain valid. Unlike an Enduring Power of Attorney (which is limited to decisions on the management of a person’s property and financial affairs), you can create separate Lasting Powers of Attorney which cover both the management of your property and financial affairs and for health and welfare decisions.