All About Lasting Powers of Attorney

The first thing to do here is to give you a simple definition of what a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is.

An LPA is a legal document. In it you appoint people – your attorneys – to act on your behalf in the event of you becoming physically or mentally incapable of managing your own financial affairs.

Types of LPA
It’s important that you understand the TWO different types of LPA.

Type 1: Property and finance
In brief, with the power that a financial LPA gives them, your attorneys can:

• Buy and sell your property
• Have access to your bank accounts to withdraw money and pay bills.

Type 2: Health and welfare
With this type of LPA your attorneys can decide on:

• Where you live
• The kind of long-term care you might receive and also …
• … the sort of medical care you’re given

In addition, there’s something called General Powers of Attorney. But these powers can’t be used if you’ve lost mental capacity. The crucial difference between a GPA and an LPA is that the GPA becomes legally effective upon valid signing and witnessing. While on the other hand, the donor must register an LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian before it becomes valid and effective.

Before the introduction of LPAs we had Enduring Powers of Attorney. If you’ve got this type in place don’t worry – they’re still valid.

Choosing your attorneys
It goes without saying that your attorneys must be over eighteen-years-old. It also goes without saying that they must be people in whom you have absolute trust. After all, if the worst happens, they’re going to be responsible for big decisions for you regarding your health and finances. They must then be a person/people you’re confident can manage that level of responsibility and have the time to help you as well.

Often couples will appoint each other and also their adult children as their attorneys.

I’d recommend appointing more than one attorney. Or at least having a replacement attorney in place. That way, if one attorney is not able to act then the other one can assist.

I further advise that:

• You select attorneys that get on with each other. Otherwise, decision-making can get difficult if there’s disagreement on a plan of action.
• Having more than four attorneys could well make it difficult for practical reasons – four attorneys should be the maximum. Though it does of course depend on your personal circumstances.

How to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney
My advice is that you seek professional advice and have the LPA completed and registered for you – all LPAs must be registered before it’s possible to use them.

Why not contact me to see how I can help?

How long it will take
So long as I have all the information to hand, I can, as a rule, get the forms completed in a couple of days. The LPAs must bear the signature of the person making them (the donor), all the attorneys, and a Certificate Provider – that’s someone who signs to say you understand what you’re doing and that no-one has forced you into making an LPA.

In the event of an attorney dying or losing capacity themselves
Should you have more than one attorney, appointed ‘jointly and severally’ and one of them dies or loses capacity, the other attorneys can continue to act on your behalf.

In the event of the appointment of attorneys appointed ‘jointly’ only and one of them dies or loses mental capacity then the other attorneys can no longer act for you. In that situation the LPA becomes unworkable. Thus, it’s important to give careful thought to how you appoint your attorneys.

If they’re appointed ‘jointly’ all the attorneys must sign documents and act as one. But should you appoint them ‘jointly and severally’ then it’s only necessary for one of them to make any decision. They won’t need the other attorneys to make decisions and sign documents with them. Further, you can appoint your attorney to act jointly and severally for some decisions and jointly only for others. While this can become complicated there are times when it can be appropriate.

Changing your mind about your attorneys
Well – you can have a change of heart yes – it’s possible. But it’s not easy. You’d have to revoke/cancel your original LPA and then draw up a new one. This is likely to be costly and time-consuming. So, when making an LPA put every effort into making it such that it’ll stand the test of time.

The costs involved
Well, there’s the registration fee. That stands at £82 per LPA – though there are fee reductions and exemptions for certain people.

Then there’s the cost of a professional such as myself drawing it up. You can see how much I charge here for drafting LPAs.

Further information
If you have questions or concerns you’re welcome to call me on 07538946839 or email me at info@swindonwillwriting.co.uk.

I’m more than happy to give you some initial advice and help you decide whether you should have an LPA.

See also my FAQs about Lasting Power of Attorney here.