Lasting Powers of Attorney
It is a sad fact of life than many of us will lose our mental capacity before we die.
If this happens and we have not made any prior arrangements, the Government will appoint someone to make decisions on our behalf. This can sometimes be the Local Authority.
You can resolve this problem by creating a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), whilst you have capacity.
There are two types of LPA, one for Health and Welfare and another for Property and Financial Affairs.
Ideally you should have both in place so that your attorneys can make decisions on your behalf in both medical and financial circumstances.
An LPA, once created, has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. This is currently taking 16-20 weeks, so it is best to get an LPA registered as soon as you have created it. Don't leave it too late.
We charge £250 to create and register an LPA and reduce this fee if we are sorting out more than one at the same time.
60 Second Case Study: Additional stress at a difficult time could have been avoided...
Mr S and his family knew he should have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) but they kept putting it off. His dementia got worse and he lost capacity. The family asked us to assist. We could only refer them to the Court of Protection as it was too late to do an LPA. They found it very expensive, time consuming and emotionally draining.
Don’t let this happen to you. Please get in touch.