Lasting Power of Attorney

Are you looking for a Power of Attorney for a parent or loved one? Or maybe you are thinking of putting one in place for yourself. Here is an overview.

A Power of Attorney nominates someone to act on your behalf should you lose mental capacity, as defined by the Mental Health Act 2005. Mental incapacity could be dementia or other mental health issues brought on by illness or even an accident. Importantly they are put in place BEFORE you lose capacity. Only if you are unable to make decisions for yourself does the Attorney(s) your chose act on your behalf. Typically the Attorney is either a spouse or child.

So why are they important to get setup now?

There are a number of reasons I advise all my clients to have Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place, not least peace of mind, but importantly because the alternative to an LPA is much more expensive and time consuming.

If you no longer have the capacity to make an LPA your spouse/ children have to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order. This is a complex process with a number of potential pitfalls. It also costs significantly more and can take 28 weeks to put in place.

Maud is in her 70’s, she is in reasonable health but there is a history of dementia in her family. Her daughter Grace looks after her and helps her with her pension and paperwork that she finds difficult. Her son John also helps her sometimes. She is concerned that if she does lose mental capacity her daughter won’t be able to legally manage her finance’s. Grace is concerned that if her mum goes into the home later she will need to be able to sell the home in order to pay for her care.

The solution is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

Following a full and detailed consultation it is determined that Maud still has the mental capacity to make an LPA. She appoints Grace and John as her joint attorneys in her Property & Finance LPA, with the condition that they can only act when she has lost capacity as defined by the Mental Health Act 2005. So now if Maud does lose mental capacity, Grace & John can legally deal with all her property and financial issues.