Legal Corner – Lasting Powers of Attorney

LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY: Planning for the Unexpected!

Many of us refuse to accept

that we might lose our mental capacity and so don’t think about how we would manage our financial affairs if we did become mentally incapable.

Statistics show that more than 920,000 people in the UK are living with dementia – a number expected to rise to over a million by 2024. The vast majority of people with dementia are aged sixty-five and over, accounting for over 880,000 people. However, an estimated 40,000 people under sixty-five are living with dementia in the UK. It is therefore important to plan ahead and ease the potential burden on your children/relatives.

One answer is to create Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA), which gives people who you trust the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf about your financial affairs, if you become mentally incapable of making your own decisions, or it allows them to help you if you ask them to, if you become physically unable to deal with your affairs.

It is very important that you set up an LPA while you are still mentally capable, well before you need it. If you become mentally incapacitated later in life and don’t have an LPA in place, your relatives can face long, distressing delays and expense in applying to the court to take control.

Don’t assume that because you have set up an LPA, you have lost control. Your LPA would only be activated, if and when it is needed.

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney:

● A Property and Financial Affairs LPA is used to appoint someone you trust as your attorney to take decisions on your behalf about money matters. They would be empowered, for example, to make decisions on buying and selling your property, running your bank accounts, dealing with your bills and state benefits and investing your money. This type of LPA can also be useful if you need your attorney to help you because of physical incapacity as well as mental incapacity. ● A Health and Welfare LPA only applies if you become mentally incapacitated and allows your chosen attorney to make decisions about your care, including where you live, what medical treatment you receive, whether you should be resuscitated etc. The LPA is a powerful legal document. You may wish to get a solicitor to help if you’re unsure about the process.

Double & Megson

11 Market Place, Market Deeping Tel: 01778 341494 Email: deepings@doubleandmegson.co.uk