Lasting Power of Attorney and an ageing population
With Britian’s ageing population there needs to be more public awareness concerning the importance of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs). In fact the number of people registering these essential legal documents has doubled – to 3.85 million people – in just three years. In the year to April 2019, 800,000 applications were made to the Office of the Public Guardian, according to an article on This Is Money.
Setting up Lasting Power of Attorney
At Simon Will Writing Services we can prepares LPAs for you or your loved one which takes the stress out of dealing with paperwork and registering the documents with the Office of the Public Guardian.
Lasting Power of Attorney are essential legal documents. The purpose of an LPA is to allow trusted individuals called ‘attorneys’ – often children over the 18 – to make decisions on your behalf.
Where Wills are ‘active’ when you die, LPAs are used while you’re still alive. This is in the event of an accident or a condition that leaves you mentally incapacitated, like dementia.
There are two types of LPA – one that covers health and welfare and the other covering property and finance.
A Health and Welfare LPA will enable your attorneys to make decisions about your care and wellbeing. Whereas, on the other hand, A Property and Finance LPA allows your attorney’s to pay essential bills using your money.
Why the increase in people getting LPAs
So, why are more people getting LPAs? As This Is Money points out: “An aging population, greater awareness of conditions like dementia, and the trend towards people investing their pension in retirement are likely to be among factors driving the increase in people setting up Lasting Power of Attorney for their finances and health.”
If you don’t have an LPA in place, your relatives could find themselves in financial heartache if you were ever to lose mental capacity. The article states: “Without a ‘Lasting Power of Attorney’ document created in advance, families can find themselves locked out of an ailing loved one’s finances and facing a complicated court process to be appointed their ‘deputy’, with fees running into many thousands of pounds.”
How are LPA’s used?
So, what would your attorney be allowed to do? This article provides helpful guidance – STEP document “Why make a Lasting power of attorney?”:
“The attorney’s powers may be restricted. And the LPA can specify that it can only come into force once you no longer have mental capacity (this applies in any case to Personal Welfare LPAs). The attorneys only have limited powers to make gifts of your money or property. Although the court may authorise additional giving. When making investment decisions, the attorney will need to take appropriate professional advice.”
Lasting Powers of Attorney in its current guise is relatively new and have replaced its predecessor, EPA (Enduring Power of Attorney).
As stated on Wikipedia: “Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) in English law were created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and came into effect on 1 October 2007. The LPA replaced the former Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) which had limited scope. The LPA’s purpose is to meet your needs when you, in the future, – in the words of the Act, ‘lack capacity’ – to look after your own personal, financial or business affairs. The LPA allows you to make appropriate arrangements for family members or trusted friends to be authorised to make decisions on your behalf. The LPA is created and registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice of the United Kingdom.”
Lasting Power of Attorney can only be registered whilst you still have mental capacity. And since it takes around three months for the OPG to register them, it’s best to get you LPA in place as soon as possible, even if you never use them.
Call Simon Hall Will Writing Services today to arrange a convenient appointment to discuss this further. Call 01392 540 996.
Also read: Meet Simon Hall, Devon’s Award-Winning Will Writer, offering a bespoke service