Lasting Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney allows you to appoint trusted individuals to make decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so. It is the single most useful document most people do not have.

There are two types: property and financial affairs, and health and welfare. The first covers bank accounts, bills, pensions, benefits and selling a house. The second covers medical treatment, care arrangements and where you live, and can only ever be used once you have lost the capacity to decide for yourself.

Putting LPAs in place ensures that your wishes can still be carried out if you lose mental capacity due to illness, accident, or conditions such as dementia.

Most people should have both. Families frequently arrange the financial one and skip the health one, then find that when a parent goes into hospital the hospital will not discuss care options with them.

The common assumption is that a husband, wife or adult child can simply take over. They cannot. Banks freeze sole accounts, utility providers refuse to talk to relatives, and a house cannot be sold without authority. Without an LPA, your family may need to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order. This process can be time-consuming, costly and stressful at an already difficult time.

The catch is timing. An LPA can only be made while you still have the mental capacity to make it. Once capacity is in doubt, the door closes and deputyship is the only option left. That is why we would rather have this conversation ten years early than ten months late.

At BeAdvised Legacy Planning we guide you through the process step by step. We help you choose appropriate attorneys, explain their responsibilities clearly, and ensure all documentation is completed accurately. We also assist with the registration process with the Office of the Public Guardian, making the experience as smooth and straightforward as possible.

We sit down with your attorneys too. Being an attorney comes with real duties: acting in your best interests, keeping their money separate from yours, keeping records, and not making gifts beyond what is customary. Twenty minutes of explanation at the start prevents a lot of trouble later.