POWER OF ATTORNEY
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
People of all ages are becoming increasingly aware of facing the possibility that in the future, they could become unable to make decisions for themselves due to mental incapacity, whether brought on by a sudden accident, illness or advancing age.
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that allows someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf and in your best interests. LPAs give you more control over what happens to you if you lack the ‘mental capacity’ to make decisions for yourself or you want someone to make certain decisions for you.
There are two types of LPAs: one covers property and financial decisions and the other deals with decisions about your health and welfare. ‘Mental capacity’ means the ability to make a decision at the time it needs to be made. People can lose mental capacity because of a condition such as dementia or a learning disability.
Think about what would happen if you had a serious accident or a stroke or developed dementia or a mental illness. You might lose the ability to make some, or all, decisions. Making an LPA will help you to prepare in case this happens.
Why do I need an LPA?
There are many advantages to making an LPA:
LPAs are like an insurance policy in case you lose your mental capacity or become physically frail. When this happens people can become overwhelmed and find it difficult to deal with day-today matters. Paperwork and bills pile up, and everything can seem out of control.
People often choose to have just a property and financial LPA but a health and welfare LPA will put your family in a stronger position if social services intervene.
If social services were to take out a “Best Interest Order” stating that they feel it is in your best interests that you are admitted to a care home, your family can go along to any Best Interest Meetings, but will not be able to participate in any decision making unless they have a health and welfare lasting power of attorney.
- It is a chance to talk to family and friends about how you want manage your finances and your health and welfare
- It will give you peace of mind and allow you to stay in control
- It’s quicker and cheaper than other ways of handling your decisions – such as applying to the Court of Protection
Who’s involved in an LPA?
There are two main roles involved in an LPA. The ‘donor’ makes the LPA and appoints one or more ‘attorneys’ to make decisions for them.
When you create an LPA you also need someone to act as a ‘Certificate Provider’ to state that you had mental capacity when you made the LPA. You can additionally name ‘people to notify’, who will be told when the LPA is registered.
Certificate Providers and ‘people to notify’ are extra safeguards to make sure the LPA truly represents your wishes.
If social services were to take out a “Best Interest Order” stating that they feel it is in your best interests that you are admitted to a care home, your family can go along to any Best Interest Meetings, but will not be able to participate in any decision making unless they have a health and welfare lasting power of attorney.
Which kind of LPA?
Under a property and financial affairs LPA, you appoint an attorney or attorneys to take responsibility for such things as:
- Paying your bills
- Collecting your income and benefits
- Providing for dependants
You needn’t have lost mental capacity to use this kind of LPA; your attorneys can start acting for you straight away if you wish them to. That might be useful if you want someone to manage your finances while you’re in hospital or abroad for a period of time.
A health and welfare LPA
covers decisions such as:
- Where you live
- What you wear
- Your medical care
- Whether to refuse life-sustaining treatment for you
Unlike a property and financial affairs LPA, your attorneys can use a health and welfare LPA only when you no longer have mental capacity to make decisions for yourself. For both types of LPAs, you can decide the things your attorneys can and can’t make decisions about.
Prices
Hastings & Rother Legal Services would normally provide this service with an initial free telephone consultation, offering professional friendly advice. This will be followed up with a home visit to explain how the Lasting Powers of Attorney work and talk through the decisions that you need to make. Then followed by a further home visit to supervise the signing and witnessing of the document(s). If any Attorney is not present when the Donor (you) signs the LPA we will arrange for them to complete their section at a later date.
We prepare and register LPAs for a fixed price, which includes all our costs:
- £185.00 for a home visit* Single Registered LPA (PA) or LPA (HW).
- £350.00 including a home visit* for both a Property and Financial Affairs LPA and a Health and Welfare LPA for the same person.
- Prices exclude the fee, which may be charged for registration by the Office of the Public Guardian (currently £82.00 per LPA). If you are on certain benefits or your income is below a certain level, you may not have to pay this fee, or you may be entitled to a reduction. Help in obtaining this fee remission or reduction is included in our service at no additional cost.
- This service is VAT exempt