Power of Attorney solicitors

Many people do not realise that no one person automatically has the legal authority to step in and manage your affairs for you if you should lose capacity to manage them during your lifetime.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you to specify in advance of any loss of capacity who you wish to make decisions for you (your attorney or attorneys) if an accident or illness means that you lose the capacity to make those important decisions yourself. An LPA lets you choose attorneys that you trust to make those decisions for you. Explore common misconceptions about LPAs and learn how they can protect your wishes when you can no longer make decisions yourself.

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney available:

Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney

• An LPA for property and financial affairs allows your attorney to make decisions about your finances and property and this power covers, for example, selling your home on your behalf or paying bills for you.

Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney

• An LPA for health and welfare allows your attorney to make day to day decisions about your welfare (where you should live, what you should eat etc.). Where appropriate, this can also cover medical decisions, including a power to consent to or refuse life sustaining treatment on your behalf.

The main advantage of having two separate types of LPA is that you can choose the attorneys dependent upon the type of decisions that need to be made. The person or people you wish to manage your financial affairs may not be the same person or people you would like to take decisions in relation to your health and welfare.

Attorneys are under a legal duty to act in your best interests and must involve you in any decision-making process where this is possible. If you wish, you can include restrictions or give guidance to your attorney or attorneys in your LPAs so as to limit their decision making to certain assets or situations.

You do not need to put in place both a health and welfare LPA and a property and financial affairs LPA and can simply choose the document which you feel is relevant to your circumstances. However, generally it is better to have both types in place and consideration should be given to the benefits of both documents.

If you do not have an LPA in place and you lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself, an application has to be made to the Court of Protection for the court to appoint someone to make those decisions on your behalf.

While you can set up an LPA independently, many people find reassurance in having expert guidance. Creating a Lasting Power of Attorney with a solicitor ensures that the document is correctly drafted and legally sound. Solicitors provide professional advice tailored to your specific situation, helping you understand the implications of your choices. They also ensure that the document meets all legal requirements, reducing the risk of errors that could render it invalid. Learn more about why you need to create a lasting power of attorney with a legal professional.

Understanding the different types of Power of Attorney (PoA) is crucial for making informed choices about who manages your affairs and how they are handled.

Ordinary Power of Attorney

An Ordinary Power of Attorney is designed for short-term needs.

It allows you to appoint someone to manage your financial matters while you’re still able to make decisions yourself.

Typically, this is the choice for straightforward, temporary situations.

• Best Used For: Getting assistance with banking and property management during an extended trip abroad or a short-term hospital stay.

Enduring Power of Attorney

An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is an older legal option set up by some individuals before October 2007.

If you have an EPA, it’s still valid today, primarily focusing on handling your financial and property matters.

• Key Function: It comes into play when you’re unable to manage your finances due to illness or incapacity, enabling a trusted person to act on your behalf.
• Consider Updating: Many choose to update to a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for broader, more current coverage of financial and personal welfare decisions.

Our team of LPA solicitors can guide you through understanding your existing EPA and advise on transitioning to an LPA if it suits your needs better.