Lasting power of attorney

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Lasting Power of Attorney

Putting in place a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can give you peace of mind that someone you trust is in charge of your affairs. LPAs can only be put in place while you have sufficient mental capacity to make these decisions.

If you are aged 18 or older and have the mental ability to make financial, property and medical decisions for yourself, then you can arrange for someone else to make these decisions for you in the future.

An LPA is a legal document where you appoint one or more people, known as Attorneys, to make decisions on your behalf if you are unable due to a decline in your physical or mental health.

There are two types of LPA:

(1) Property and Financial Affairs

A property and financial affairs LPA gives your Attorney(s) the power to make decisions about your money and property. This includes managing your bank or building society accounts, paying bills, collecting your pension or benefits and, if necessary, selling your home. Once registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, it can be used immediately or held in readiness until required

(2) Health and Welfare

A health and welfare LPA gives your Attorney(s) the power to make decisions about your daily routine (washing, dressing, eating), medical care, moving into a care home and life-sustaining medical treatment. It can only be used if you are unable to make your own decisions.

Unfortunately, most people do not have Lasting Powers of Attorney as they leave it too late to arrange them. We would generally recommend that you set up both a health and welfare LPA and a property and financial affairs LPA at the same time. Many people do this while reviewing or revising their Will.

If you lose your mental capacity and do not have Powers of Attorney then an application to the Court of Protection will need to be made which is a time-consuming and costly process.

At Will Monkeys, we gather all the information needed to prepare the Lasting Power of Attorney forms for you and register them for use with the Office of the Public Guardian.

Key Information about LPA's?

You must be aged 18 or over

You must be of sound mind at the time of making an LTA i.e.) you must have the mental ability to make financial, property and medical decisions for yourself

You wish to arrange for someone else to have the ability to make these decisions for you in the future

You can appoint a single person or more than one person to act on your behalf either jointly (they must all agree) or jointly and severally (where some decisions are made all together and others made individually)