Lasting Powers of Attorney: More Important Than Wills
Lasting Powers of Attorney: More Important Than Wills
In a recent TV show Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com encouraged viewers to put Lasting Powers of Attorney in place;
“I think Power of Attorney is more important than a Will. A Will decides what happens to your assets if you die. Power of Attorney, what happens to your assets if you lose your faculties – you're still alive and you may have your own care and family that you need to look after, but you're no longer capable of doing it yourself.” Martin Lewis
So, let’s explore Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA’s) and why they’re so important?
1. WHY do you need to put Lasting Powers of Attorney in place?
Lasting Powers of attorney allow you to appoint people you trust to have the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf for your property, finances (personal & business), health & welfare, if you loose the ability to do so through an accident or illness.
2. WHAT types of Lasting Powers of Attorney do you need?
There are two types:
Property & Financial Affairs:
Lets your chosen Attorney/s make decisions about your money and property.
Joint bank, building society and business accounts can be severely restricted if ONE of the account holders loses mental capacity and there is no registered LPA in place.
The joint owner cannot freely withdraw what is their own money without an order from the Court of Protection. This could be devastating, especially if the joint owner has their only form of income, such as their pension, paid into this joint account.
If your joint bank account is frozen, how will your partner pay essential bills such as your mortgage?
Health & Welfare:
Lets your chosen Attorney/s make decisions about your medical treatment and day-to-day care, including choices end-of-life care.
3. WHEN should I make an Lasting Powers of Attorney?
Get it sorted ahead of time, it can be more important the older you are as illnesses such as dementia become a higher risk. It makes a world of difference when it matters. Saving your loved ones the stress of lengthy legal proceedings
4. WHO needs Lasting Powers of Attorney?
They are not just for the elderly. An accident or illness can strike anyone at any age so Lasting Powers of Attorney are important for everyone.
5. WHERE can I go to put Lasting Powers of Attorney in place?
Lasting Powers of Attorney are standard documents. You don’t need a Solicitor or to pay the expensive Solicitor fees. I can provide a personal service to remove any stress call 01536 292018.
What you need to think about to put Lasting Powers of Attorney in place:
Here is a quick checklist of what you need to think about to put Lasting Powers of Attorney in place.
Decide who you would want to appoint as your Attorney/s. Your Attorney's will have the legal power to make decisions on your behalf if you loose the capacity to do so.
It is advisable to have more than one Attorney, you can have a maximum of four main Attorneys. You can include substitute Attorneys who can step in to act if your main Attorneys pre-decease you or cannot act for you.
Your Attorney must be over 18. If you’re looking for someone to help with your finances, consider someone with a good history of managing money. If that person has been declared bankrupt, they won’t be able to act as a property and finance attorney but may still be able to act as a health and welfare attorney.
If you do the documents with me then I can act as your Certificate Provider but if you decide to do the documents yourselves you will need to appoint a Certificate Provider in the documents.
The role of the Certificate Provider is to testify that you understand the documents, you have the mental capacity to put these documents in place and you are not under any undue influence to put the documents in place.
A Certificate Provider must:
not be related to the donor or attorney(s)
be aged 18 or over
have known the donor well for at least two years
Not be classed as an employee or employer of the donor or attorney(s)
