Lasting Power of Attorney

lady in wheelchair 
 
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document giving authority to a trusted individual to make decisions on your behalf.  There are two types of LPA:- Property and Affairs and Personal Welfare.
 
Property and Affairs
An LPA PA enables one or more people chosen by you (friend, relative, or professional) to make decisions relating to how your money is spent.  It can also include directions on how to manage your property and financial affairs.
Personal Welfare
An LPA PW again enables one or more people of your choice (usually close friends or family members) to make decisions in relation to your welfare and healthcare, which will include permissions to refuse or consent to medical treatment you may require and on deciding where you live. 
 
There can be many reasons why an individual should make a Lasting Power of Attorney, they could, for example:-.
  • Be injured in an accident resulting in a long stay in hospital, preventing them from managing their day to day affairs.
  • Have to go abroad for a substantial length of time and wish their property etc. to be 'managed' by a trusted individual.
  • Suffer from a disease which will as the years go by incapacitate them either physically or mentally.
 
You can choose to make either a Property and Affairs LPA or a Personal Welfare LPA, or indeed make both, but they can only be made before mental capacity is lost (according to the Mental Capacity Act 2005) and after they have been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. A Lasting Power of Attorney can be revoked if the Donor (you) either recovers from illness or is once again able to manage your affairs.
 
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a very valuable document, and in order to fully understand its advantages and its limits The Willwriting Service (Reading) are more than happy to assist, both with completion, and registration.
 
Finally, the British Government has recommended that everybody in the UK make a Lasting Power of Attorney in readiness for registration should circumstances in their lives change for the worse.  Without an LPA the stress and financial hardship caused if a loved one becomes seriously injured or ill is truly immense.  The cost to the family can be many thousands of pounds per year in Court fees, possible Solicitor fees, and extremely involved and time consuming bureaucracy .  
 
Please contact our offices for further information regarding LPA's, their benefits, how to proceed, registration fees and possible exemptions.   
 
Call us now on 0790 388 4278