Wills and Lifetime Financial Planning
Every adult should prepare and plan for what they would want to happen if they were unable, for some reason, to make their own decisions or manage their own affairs due perhaps to an accident, illness, or ageing. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that enables you to nominate persons you trust ( Attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf in such circumstances. By preparing LPAs you can appoint Attorneys to make financial or health and care decisions on your behalf when you are unable to make them yourself.
The best way to think of an LPA is as an insurance policy: hopefully, your LPAs will never need to be used, but if you do lose capacity in the future then your choices wishes and preferences will be reflected in your LPAs and the people you trust will be able to act for you. Without LPAs, things will become much more complex and expensive to deal with.
There are two types of LPA:
This type of LPA legally appoints your Attorneys to manage your property and finances. It can be used even if you still have capacity to manage your affairs but require support from your attorneys to do so. Your Attorneys are obliged to always act in your best interests, considering your written wishes and preferences.
A Health & Welfare LPA grants your Attorneys the authority to make decisions concerning your health and care, but only if you lack the mental capacity to make these decisions yourself. You can also give your attorneys the ability to consent to or refuse life sustaining treatment.
Since October 2007, it has not been possible to create new EPAs. However, existing EPAs remain valid, whether they have been registered or not. If an Attorney has reason to believe that the Donor of an EPA is, or is becoming, mentally incapable of managing their own affairs, they can register the EPA with the Office of the Public Guardian. It is important to note that EPAs only apply to property and financial decisions, therefore, even if you are happy with your existing EPA, we would recommend that you give careful thought to making a Health & Welfare LPA as well.
An LPA is a legal document that lets you delegate your authority to make decisions to people that you trust, your Attorneys.
LPAs have to be made before someone loses the capacity to make their own decisions. If a person loses capacity and hasn’t made LPAs, then someone will need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy. The deputyship application process is long, complex and expensive. For more information on this, see our Court of Protection page.
No, LPAs don’t have to be registered immediately, although they have to be registered before they can be used by your Attorneys. Currently, the Office of the Public Guardian is taking in the region of 20 weeks to register LPAs, this needs to be kept in mind in deciding when to register your LPAs.
Anyone over the age of 18 who has capacity can make an LPA.
Assuming it is signed and dated correctly an existing EPAs may still be valid, although they will only apply to property and financial decisions. Once the Donor starts to lose mental capacity, the attorneys need to register the EPA.
Yes, as long as you still have mental capacity you can revoke your existing LPAs and make new ones if you wish.
If you would like to discuss LPAs then please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of legal experts at John Hodge Solicitors based at our Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Yatton, Bridgwater, Bristol and Wedmore offices.
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