What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that enables a person you trust, such as a family member or otherwise, to make important decisions about your health and welfare and/or your financial affairs on your behalf, should you be unable to make these decisions due to the loss of mental capacity.
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Types of Lasting Power of Attorney
There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”). It is possible to make either one or both types – it is your choice.
Health and Welfare
Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about things like:
- Your care needs, for example washing, dressing, eating
- Medical care
- Moving into a care home
- Life-sustaining treatment
Property and Financial Affairs
Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about money and property for you, for example:
- Managing a bank or building society accounts
- Paying bills
- Collecting benefits or a pension
- Selling your home
- There is also a court registration fee that is set by the court. If you have a low income or are in receipt of certain benefits the court may agree to waive the fee entirely or reduce it.
Time Scales for Lasting Powers of Attorney
Once we have received complete information from you, we will usually aim to have drafted the forms within 14 days. We will then arrange an appointment with you to go through the forms and arrange for you to sign them. Following this, we will then send the form to your attorneys with instructions on how they should sign the forms.
Once the forms have been completed and signed by all parties we will then submit the LPA to the Office of the Public Guardian (“OPG”) to register the document. The registration process can take up to 15 weeks before we receive the LPA back from the OPG.
Court of Protection
If you have not set up a Lasting Power of Attorney whilst you were able to do so, and have since lost your mental capacity, others may need to step in to look after your financial affairs.
In these circumstances, an application to the Court of Protection is necessary. There are various different types of application that can be made to the Court of protection, but the most common is for a Deputyship Order.
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What is a Deputyship Order?
A Deputyship Order is a court order which formally nominates someone to look after your financial affairs. It will provide strict guidance on what the Deputy has and does not have, authority to do. Without either a Lasting Power of Attorney or a Deputyship order no-one has any rights to access your bank accounts, deal with any benefit claims (including a state pension), pay any bills on your behalf or generally deal with your financial affairs.
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