Lasting Powers of Attorney

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that enables you to appoint someone (known as an Attorney/Attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf at a future time when you may not be able to make such decisions.
You can create two types of LPA:

• Property and Financial Affairs LPA
• Health and Welfare LPA

Property & Financial Affairs LPA

This allows you to appoint an Attorney to manage your finances and property. An appointed Attorney can make any decision the Donor (person giving the LPA) could make about his or her property and affairs such as buying and selling property, managing investments, paying bills, collecting benefits or other income – unless restrictions are included to the contrary.

These are also useful documents for business owners who are sole traders, partners and also sole directors/shareholders.

Health & Welfare LPA

This allows you to appoint an Attorney to make decisions about personal welfare. This document can only be used when the Donor has lost mental capacity. Unless restrictions are included, the Attorney can do anything the Donor would have done regarding personal welfare, for example:

• Where you should live and who with
• Day to day care
• Consenting and refusing medical treatment
• Arranging treatments such as dentists, doctors etc
• Life sustaining treatment decisions can also be given to the Attorney, but only if the Donor directs

Further Information

Who Can Make An LPA?

Anyone aged 18 years or over with capacity.

Who Can Act As My Attorney(s)?

Anyone can be appointed as a person’s Attorney so long as they are over the age of 18 years, have capacity and are not bankrupt. You can appoint more than one person to act. If you choose to appoint more than one then you have to decide how to appoint them. You can also appoint a substitute just in case something happens to an Attorney in your lifetime.

Attorneys should be trustworthy and have a duty to act in your best interests and consider your needs and wishes so far as this is possible.

What Happens If I Don’t Have An LPA?

If you lose the capacity to be able to manage your affairs for whatever reason without a valid LPA then your personal affairs will become the responsibility of the Office of the Public Guardian. In these cases a person’s affairs are placed under the jurisdiction of the Court who appoints a Deputy to act on your behalf and the Deputy is therefore answerable to the Court.

This can be an expensive route as Court approval is required for any act to be carried out, accounts have to be submitted to the Court every 12 months and financial decisions are not carried out by close family or friends.

Do I Need To Seek Legal Advice?

You do not have to seek legal advice – it is your choice. We do consider, however, that an LPA is a powerful and important document and it is far more complex than the previous Enduring Power of Attorney system. We would recommend that anyone considering completing an LPA should seek appropriate professional advice. For further information read our Guide to Lasting Powers of Attorney.