If you are a carer, do you need Lasting Power of Attorney?

If you are a carer, do you need Lasting Power of Attorney for the person you are caring for?  In a word, Yes!

Being a carer for someone is quite often an unpaid role and usually it is either next of kin or a close friend. Invariably, the care support you provide can take up many hours over your week.

The person you are caring for, their health may deteriorate during that time and may end up with even more hours required which may include someone else’s support as well.

As health deteriorates, you, the carer may be asked to do more things, this is when having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place makes it so much easier for you to almost seamlessly increase your support whilst aiming to maintain the quality of life for the person you are caring for.

You may ask yourself, “when is the right time to have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place”, well, this can be difficult to predict as we all can fall into the bracket of having a Lasting Power of Attorney. 

None of us truly know how our lives will turn out, of course for many that may include you, you may never need help or assistance in your lifetime and the day that you pass away, you may have retained full health and your mental faculties are also in full tact, BUT simply, we do not know.

Taking the above into account, it would be more prudent if you either set up a Lasting Power of Attorney for yourself or for the person you care for, well in advance of it being needed. 

From a common-sense perspective, that way, the Donor, the person who the Lasting Power of Attorney is for can be fully engaged throughout the decision-making process. This decision is like taking out an insurance policy, you may never need it, but it is there, ‘just in case’.

It is fair to say that you may be caring for someone who refuses to consider having Lasting Power of Attorney, you cannot force someone, it is their choice, however, the alternative may not be so appealing. 

The alternative is applying through the Court of Protection for Deputyship. This is not only time consuming and costly, during that period it can become extremely stressful and upsetting for not just the person you are caring for but for you acting as their carer as you are unable to fully support them as you had wished.

In summary, whether you are a carer for someone or simply considering your own life, setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney, can save a lot of heartache for the future.