We can advise, prepare and register your Lasting Power of Attorney for finance and health for personal or business purposes
book your free meeting find out moreWe can create and register your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) forms for you. An LPA allows you to appoint one or more people of your choice (your attorneys) to manage your affairs if you are finding it difficult to do so. To make a valid LPA you must have the required mental capacity to understand what you are doing and you must not have been out under any pressure to make them.
Your family can only manage your property, finances, or make welfare decisions on your behalf if you have made a Lasting Power of Attorney which authorises them to do so. Banks, financial organisations and health professionals will not be able to discuss your affairs with your family without seeing a validated LPA. Many people mistakenly believe that they can discuss their spouses/partners affairs with such organisations and professionals and put off making LPAs.
If you lose capacity and do not have an LPA it would be too late to make one for yourself. Your family would need to make an application to the Court of protection for a deputy to be appointed. This is a costly and lengthy process. Once appointed, the Deputy has to produce annual accounts to the Court of protection showing all transactions made and the reasons for making them. Creating an LPA in advance is a much cheaper way to ensure your family can help you quickly and without the need for court intervention.
There a are two types of LPA: One for financial decisions and one for health decisions. BOTH are equally as important as the other.
This type of Lasting Power of Attorney deals with your property and financial decisions. Your attorneys can help you in a temporary capacity (whilst you recover from a temporary illness) or long term once you had lost mental capacity.
The LPA would enable them to help you with dealing with your bank accounts, bills, making investments, dealing with pensions, selling and buying property.
If you own a business and you are suddenly unable to take care of it due to an accident or illness what would happen?
How would your business fare if you were unable to contribute to the running of it?
When you own a business it is important to consider making an LPA for business financial decisions. Without one in place certain business activities would cease. E.g. if a bank account signatory lacks capacity the bank can freeze the account to protect the vulnerable adult and the business. This would have a dramatic impact on the business and staff especially if the account held funds to pay employees.
Without a business LPA in place, your representative would have to make an application to the Court for a Deputy to be appointed. It is important to note that until a deputy is appointed crucial day to day operations may not be able to be carried out because your representative may not have the authority to do them.
This type of Lasting Power of Attorney deals with your welfare decisions. It can only be used when you have lost mental capacity to make your own health decisions.
The LPA would enable your attorneys to discuss your medical treatment and other health decisions with doctors and health professionals. It enables them to discuss medical issues about life sustaining treatment and to decide where you should live.
To ensure continuity of treatment, many care homes insist on having an both LPA for health decisions in place before you can become a resident or patient.