Lasting Powers of Attorney

Why do I need a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?

You never know what might happen. If due to accident or illness you lose mental capacity it is too late to make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). Your relatives will have to go to the court to get a Deputyship. This is much more complicated and expensive.

If there is an LPA in place the people you have chosen can continue to run your affairs, pay bills and so on.

So what is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

An LPA is a legal document that allows someone (called the Donor) to choose who they want to make decisions on their behalf if they lack mental capacity to make the decisions themselves. The LPA must be completed when the Donor has mental capacity.  It is only used if the Donor subsequently loses mental capacity.

Types of LPA

Health and Welfare

Health and Welfare LPA appoints an attorney to make decisions such as:

• medical treatment
• accepting or refusing types of health care
• whether the Donor continues to live at home or moves into residential care

The Donor can also give the attorney power to make decisions about ‘life-sustaining treatment’.

Property and Financial Affairs

A Property and Financial Affairs LPA appoints someone to make decisions such as:

• paying the Donor’s bills
• collecting the Donor’s benefits
• selling the Donor’s house

The duties of an attorney

The attorney is able to make important decisions on behalf of the Donor. The attorney must:

• make decisions in the best interests of the Donor
• obey any restrictions in the LPA
• keep the Donor’s affairs confidential
• make sure their decisions benefit the Donor and not them

If the attorney does not perform their duties properly they can be made to pay for any losses the Donor has suffered.

Mistreating or purposely neglecting someone who lacks capacity is a criminal offence.

When the attorney can start acting on the donor’s behalf

The person appointed as an attorney can only make decisions when:

• the LPA has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian; and
• the Donor lacks capacity to make the decisions for him or herself

Why it is a good idea to make LPA’s

They allow the Donors to plan in advance, so that if a time comes when they are no longer able to manage their own affairs, someone they trust and they have appointed can step into their shoes.

If someone lacks mental capacity it is too late to make an LPA.  The person’s affairs may become frozen, and the only solution is to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship.  The process is very lengthy and the subsequent monitoring is far more extensive and burdensome.