What would happen if, through illness or accident, you were unable to make decisions for yourself? Currently over 850,000 people in the UK suffer with dementia and this is predicted to rise to over 1 million by 2025 (ref www.alzheimers.org.uk).

  • Who would look after your property and finances?
  • Who would make decisions about your care and welfare?

If these issues concern you, you should think about Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA).

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a powerful legal document which gives authority to another person (“attorney”) to manage your affairs and make decisions in your best interests, should you ever be unable to do so yourself.

There are two types of LPAs:

  • Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property and Finance which gives your attorney/s the legal authority to manage your property and financial affairs e.g. accessing your bank or savings accounts to pay for your day-to-day needs and helping to maintain, let or sell your property if required
  • Lasting Powers of Attorney for Health and Welfare – enabling your attorney/s to make personal decisions on your behalf e.g. where you should live or what medical treatment you should have Together, they allow your attorneys to deal with all aspects of your life.

Both allow you to leave important decisions to those you trust, and not to chance.

Who can make a Power of Attorney?

Anyone over the age of 18, who has full mental capacity to understand the use and effect of an LPA.

They should be someone you trust completely and ideally you should have two or three attorneys.

Disadvantages of not having a Lasting Power of Attorney

  • If you were to become mentally incapable no one would have authority to deal with your property and finances.
  • No one could access your bank or savings accounts. No payments could be made and money would not be available to pay for your day-to-day needs.
  • If your property needed to be maintained, let or sold, no one would be able to do so.
  • An application would need to be made to the Court of Protection to appoint someone as a Deputy to look after your property and affairs and make decisions on your behalf. This can be a lengthy and costly process and there is no guarantee that the Deputy appointed would be the person you would have wished for given the choice.
  • If any decisions needed to be made about your personal welfare when you have lost mental capacity then usually people looking after you such as carers, social workers and medical professionals would make decisions on your behalf, which although may be in your best interests, may not be what you would wish yourself.

Some frequently asked questions

I already have a relative who has authority to manage my accounts, should I still consider an LPA?

If you have already given someone authority to manage your accounts, you should still consider an LPA because if you were to lose mental capacity, other forms of authority given by you before you lost capacity would become invalid.

What would happen if I were to become incapable of making decisions for myself due to mental incapacity?

If you had appointed someone as your attorney under a valid LPA in relation to your property, this person would be able to manage your property and affairs for you in your best interests.
A valid LPA in respect of Health and Welfare would enable your attorney to make personal decisions on your behalf, for example where you should live or what medical treatment you should have.

Why are there two kinds of LPA? Can I cover everything in one document?

They are two separate documents and must be signed separately because they have different effect.

  • A  Property and Finance LPA can, if you so chose, be used by your Attorney to help you manage your affairs even if you are capable of doing so yourself. You may simply prefer to allow your attorney to look after your property and finances for you, subject to whatever instructions you may wish to give.

On the following video you can hear Catherine Crabtree explain the importance of a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Finance.

  • A Health and Welfare LPA on the other hand can only ever be used by your attorney to make decisions for you about your health and welfare if you are unable to make such decisions yourself.

On the following video you can hear Catherine Crabtree explain the importance of a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare.

A Property and Finances LPA may therefore be of practical use to you at any time, but a Health and Welfare LPA would only be used if you ever lost mental capacity. You can appoint different people to act as your attorney in respect of your property and affairs and your health and welfare.

Who should think about making a Lasting Power of Attorney?

While older people are more at risk of suffering from illnesses like dementia, an accident or serious illness which affects mental capacity can happen to anyone.

Martin Lewis OBE

Martin Lewis OBE is an award-winning campaigning TV and radio presenter, newspaper columnist, author and, according to Google, the most searched-for British man.

Please click here to read what he has to say about the importance of a Lasting Power of Attorney and click here for an article from the Daily Mail about the dangers of not having one.

The charges quoted in both these articles for using a solicitor are only estimates and costs at Thomas Dunton for an LPA are lower than those given.

For more information and advice please call our Wills & Probate Team on 01689 822554 or email wills@thomasdunton.co.uk

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