What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document used to appoint another person or persons to act on your behalf. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), one to cover your financial affairs, the other to cover your health.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Property gives your chosen Attorney’s the right to look after all your financial affairs. For example looking after your bank accounts, paying utility bills, making investment decisions, or even selling your home. Restrictions can be built into a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) limiting the scope of the powers if required, but rest assured your Attorneys are fully accountable for their actions.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Health allows you to predetermine matters such as care needs i.e. you would rather stay in your own home, or life sustaining drugs etc, and takes the decision making away from somebody who possibly doesn’t know you.
To make either arrangement you (the donor) needs to have mental capacity, once lost it is too late to act, forcing your family to make an expensive and long winded application to the Court of Protection.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s) need to be registered with the Court of Protection to make them valid, this is currently taking up to 13 weeks due to the realisation by many that this document is as vitally important as a Will.
By taking action today you can offset all the stress and the expense of the Court of Protection. Remember like a Will you need to arrange your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in advance.
Look upon an LPA as an insurance policy, you hope you’ll never need to use it, but the consequences of not having one are a nightmare !
