Lasting Powers of Attorney
Lasting Powers of Attorney are important legal documents which allows another person (your Attorney) to make legal decisions and administer your financial or personal affairs on your behalf in the event that you are unable to do so yourself through loss of physical or mental capacity whether it be through an accident, illness, or you are unable to make your own decisions for some other reason. For many Powers of Attorney are far more important than a Will as they are effective during your lifetime.
Types of Lasting Power of Attorney
There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney:
- Health and Welfare
- Property and Financial Affairs
You can choose to make just one, or both. A Lasting Power of Attorney gives you more control over what happens if you have an accident or you fall ill.
A Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney can dictate who will look after your money for you and other financial matters, such as selling your house, and a Health and Welfare Attorney looks after where you will live, and who will make the decisions about your day to day care.
Who can make a Lasting Power of Attorney
To make a Lasting Power of Attorney you must be over 18. You must also still have mental capacity to understand the decisions you are making, so it is vitally important to sign the document while you are still fit and well, and not leave it too late.
Up to 4 Attorneys can act at any time, family members, friends, or professionals for example the Partners at Gordon Dean can act on your behalf. Your Attorneys can act either jointly which means that they must always take all decisions together, or jointly and severally which is where the Attorneys can act independently of each other, at Gordon Deans’ we usually recommend a joint and several appointment as a Lasting Power of Attorney will become invalid on the death or loss of capacity of an Attorney on a joint appointment.
You can also choose replacement Attorneys if you first choice isn’t available for some reason.
The Power of Attorney must be registered with the Public Guardianship Office before it can be used for the first time, this can take up to 10 weeks and a fee of £110 paid. We usually recommend that a Lasting Power of Attorney is registered straight away so that is available for use as soon as it is required.
Please telephone Louise Bunn on 01603 767671 or email her at louise@gordondeansolicitors.co.uk to arrange an appointment or for more information.