Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) – Protecting Your Wealth & Health
In my view, LPAs are as important as Wills.
Put simply, LPAs are documents by which a person (known as the Donor) can appoint someone else (known as the Attorney) to deal with their affairs if they cannot (usually if they lose mental or physical capacity).
There are two different types of LPA, namely a Property and Affairs LPA and a Health and Welfare LPA. I like to call them the Wealth and Health LPA respectively.
The Wealth LPA allows a person to choose an Attorney or Attorneys to manage and make decisions about their property and financial affairs, such as paying bills and tax, managing debts, applying for benefits, managing bank and building society accounts, investments and selling or purchasing property.
Health & Welfare LPAs – Ensuring Your Wishes Are Respected
The Health LPA allows a person to choose an Attorney or Attorneys to make decisions about their personal welfare, such as their diet, dress and daily routine, their day-to-day care, medical treatment, where they live, and who they allow to make end of life decisions.
Both types of LPA can only be used by an Attorney or Attorneys after they have been registered with a government organisation called the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The registration process attracts a fee payable to the OPG.
Once an LPA has been registered the Attorney or Attorneys will have to act subject to any restrictions or conditions specified on the LPA form and must always act in the Donor’s best interests. In my view, LPAs should always contain some sort of restriction or condition in some form and that is why it is always sensible to instruct a professional to draft them as these provisions are often overlooked.
LPAs are so important because if someone loses their ability to deal with their affairs without them in place then the only way that someone can deal with that person’s affairs would be to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order. Such applications are very long winded, intrusive and expensive and can be totally avoided by having LPAs in place.
Please contact me for a quote for my LPA services.
Please note that my charges for my LPA services do not have VAT added as I am not VAT registered.
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