Lasting Powers of Attorney

At any stage in your life you may suffer an accident, physical ill health or the onset of mental illness. In later life, you may lose mental capacity due to the onset of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia such as Lewy Body or Vascular Dementia.

For whatever reason, you may find that you become unable to manage your own affairs whether they are financial or relating to your health and welfare. This is something that we can help you with.

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?
An LPA is a legal document or documents appointing a person or persons of your choice to be your attorney(s). There are two different types of LPA you can use to make provision for the future. You can set up one or both types:

Property and Financial affairs LPA
By preparing this type of LPA you are choosing someone you trust to manage or make decisions about your finances and property should you be unable to do so.

You can choose whether this power operates from the onset of mental incapacity or whether your attorney can manage some or all of the affairs on your instructions whilst you still have capacity. If there are powers you do not wish your attorney to have, you may place conditions and/or restrictions in the LPA document.

Personal Health and Welfare LPA
This type of LPA allows you to choose someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf relating to your personal health and welfare. These decisions may include giving or refusing consent to medical care on your behalf, deciding where you live, and who you will have contact with.

Any decision can only be taken on your behalf if your attorney believes that you lack the capacity to make the decision yourself. You can also place conditions and / or restrictions on your attorney in regards to what decisions they can make on your future health and welfare.

Within the health and welfare LPA you are able to make advance decisions concerning the carrying out or continuing of medical treatment that may be needed in the future. However, unless strict formalities have been complied with, any advance decision you make will not affect any treatment that a doctor considers necessary to sustain your life.

Can you revoke an LPA?
You can revoke your LPA at any time providing that you still have mental capacity. The attorney’s power is automatically revoked should the attorney lack mental capacity or if you and your appointed attorney have been married and get divorced, or have been in a civil partnership, which is dissolved.

The attorney’s power is also revoked if they become bankrupt.

An attorney can also decide at any time that they no longer want to act as your attorney. If you have lost mental capacity and your attorney no longer wants to act on your behalf, your attorney must inform the Office of the Public Guardian.

Putting an LPA in place makes it easier for your family in the future.

Contact us today for a general chat to determine what is best for you. Our fees start from £300 plus vat. In addition, there is the Court fee of £82. You may be eligible for a remission fee or exemption and we will discuss this with you during your appointment with us.

If a person has lost capacity you can apply to become someone’s deputy. This means they cannot make a decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made. They may still be able to make decisions for themselves at certain times.

People may lack mental capacity because, for example:

• they’ve had a serious brain injury or illness
• they have dementia
• they have severe learning disabilities

As a deputy, you’ll be authorised by the Court of Protection to make decisions on their behalf. This can assist in many situations you may find yourself in such as selling a property to pay for care home fees.

Our fees are from £950.00 plus vat @ 20% totalling £1,140.

In addition, there are certain fees payable (additional disbursements) to the Court of Protection/Office of the Public Guardian as part of the application process. These include:

• Application fee: £365
• Deputy assessment (one-off) fee: usually around £100
• Annual supervision fee payable to Court (subject to Court’s decision as to level of supervision required): minimum fee £35; maximum fee £320 per year
• ‘Insurance bond’ payable annually; again, subject to discretion of the Court and based on the value of assets in the patient’s name
• an assessment of capacity. It is usually between £100 and £300.