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 about property and financial matters and/or health and welfare matters.

We all hope to live our years in reasonable health and maintain our mental faculties. However, we must also 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 significantly benefit you and your loved ones.

If you don’t have LPAs in place and need help 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 long-winded, complex and costly, but you will also 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 many different things to consider to set up LPAs correctly and ensure that they operate in your best interests. You need to decide who you are appointing, how your Attorney is to determine 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, and witnessed, and someone appropriately qualified will need to provide a certificate to confirm your capacity to set up the LPAs. For the LPAs to be fully effective, they must also be registered at the Office of the Public Guardian. We will guide you through the process from start to finish.

First, your LPAs must have been registered at the Office of the Public Guardian before use. We recommend that you register your LPAs as soon as they are set up to avoid problems and delays later. What your Attorneys need to do will depend upon your circumstances and affairs. We can advise your attorneys on their duties and obligations and the practical steps 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 it still has mental capacity.

An Enduring Power of Attorney would have been prepared before 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 before 1 October 2007 will remain valid. Unlike an Enduring Power of Attorney (which is limited to decisions on managing 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 matters and for health and welfare decisions.