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Lasting Powers of Attorney
What happens if you need assistance in making decisions during your lifetime should you become incapable of managing your affairs?
A Power of Attorney enables you to appoint someone to assist you and to act on your behalf. The foresight of preparing a Power of Attorney can be a great relief to your relatives as it can lessen the burden of responsibility for them and give them guidance and assistance that they will need to be able to help you.
It is only possible however to make such a Power when you have the mental capacity and ability to clearly give your instructions and to understand your actions.
There are two kinds of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). A Property and Affairs LPA which gives the attorney power to make decisions about money and property and a Personal Welfare LPA which gives the attorney power to make decisions about non-financial matters such as where you might live or medical treatment.
It is open to you to make either kind or both and to appoint one or more persons to act on your behalf. Both types of LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before an attorney has the power to act and each type of LPA operates before and after the onset of mental incapacity.
The new LPAs give the donor much greater choice e.g. replacement attorneys can be provided, the donor may give guidance to his attorneys as to decisions to be made, the donor can nominate persons to be notified when the LPA is registered and becomes effective and attorneys can be given power to act jointly and independently according to your instructions.
An LPA is an important and powerful document and is far more complex than the previous kind of Power called an Enduring Power of Attorney. We would recommend that legal advice is taken before entering into an LPA of either kind and we will be pleased to discuss your requirements with you.
