A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a Court registered document allowing you to appoint trusted persons to act on your behalf in the event you become unable to manage your own affairs. There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney and these are explained below.

Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs

The first type is for Property and Financial affairs. This type of LPA grants your chosen attorneys all the same powers as yourself to access and manage any financial assets such as bank accounts, savings and investments, stocks and shares and pension. It would also grant your chosen attorneys powers to make decisions regarding your property such as to grant a sale or rental lease.

Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare

The second type of LPA is for Health and Welfare and would grant your attorneys powers to make decisions with regards to your daily routine and care including decisions such as any treatment plans, care placements and life sustaining medical interventions.

You can appoint up to 4 attorneys under each type of LPA. This can be the same or different 4 persons for each LPA. You can also appointment replacement attorneys in cause your original attorneys should be unable to act. Your attorneys must be sound of mind and aged 18 years of over.

It is important to choose persons you trust entirely to be appointed as your attorney as they will have all the same powers as you when dealing with your affairs. Your attorneys cannot override any decision you make whilst ever you maintain capacity. In the event you lack mental capacity your attorneys can act on your behalf but must always act in your best interest.

So why are LPA’s so important? Without an LPA there are no persons with legal authority to manage your affairs if you become unable to do so. Not even a spouse would have authority to act. Therefore it is possible that bills may go unpaid and arrears may increase creating a difficult situation for the family to manage. Without an LPA your family (or other relevant persons) would need to apply for the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order. Typically a Deputyship Order costs at least twice as much as LPA’s and the application process takes approximately 12 months more. This can further frustrate a difficult situation.

So when should you make an LPA? We would always suggest making an LPA sooner rather than later. You do not need to make both types of LPA’s if you do not want to. However an LPA can only be made whilst the person making it has mental capacity. Should that person’s capacity become unpredictable it may be too late and the family would have to consider a Deputyship application. However once an LPA is made and registered it needn’t be used right away. You can choose to simply store the documents in case they should be required in the future.

If you would like to speak to one of our solicitors about preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney or to discuss your options further please contact our team on 01226 210000 or email info@mkbsolicitors.co.uk to speak to a member of our private client team.