Only 4% of those who have made a Will have appointed someone to look after their affairs should they become unable to do so themselves through illness or accident.
71% say that they have a view about whom they would like or not like to take care of their affairs if they could no longer make their own decisions
59% of those over 65 have not made preparations for how they themselves and their finances would be looked after should they become unable to do so because of an age related illness such as dementia.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document where a person gives another person, the attorney, authority to make certain decisions on their behalf.
There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney:
a) Property & Affairs LPA.
This allows your attorney to deal with your property and finances
b) Personal Welfare LPA.
This allows your attorney to make welfare and health care decisions on your behalf.
Before either can be used they must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. Both the Property & Affairs LPA and Personal Welfare can be registered at any time, however, depending on how the LPA is written, attorneys can act on your behalf for the Property & Affairs LPA while you are mentally competent, which means for example that the Attorney you have chosen can attend to financial matters on your behalf if you are hospitalised or travelling.
The Personal Welfare LPA can only be used by your attorneys once you lose your mental capacity. The Personal Welfare LPA can also include the provision to give your Attorney the authority to give or refuse consent to life sustaining treatment on your behalf.
An LPA is an important document and you should take care who you appoint. They must be trustworthy and have the appropriate skills to make the various decisions. You can appoint more than one attorney and they can act together or independently or even together for some things and independently for others. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduces safeguards for LPAs which extend the safety measures previously in place for Enduring Powers of Attorneys. All LPAs must be registered centrally with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to make it easier to check their validity in order to prevent fraud and abuse. Donors (the person making the LPA) can also name up to five people to be notified when their LPA is registered. These people can object if they have concerns. LPAs also need to be certified to confirm that at the time they were drawn up, the donor was fully aware of what they were doing and was under no undue pressure.
If you should become mentally incapable, close friends and family do not have the automatic right to take care of your affairs. The Office of the Public Guardian will appoint a deputy to act on your behalf. This process takes time during which bills cannot be paid and affairs are not looked after. Furthermore the cost is high when compared to the cost of making your Lasting Power of Attorney and the deputy appointed may not be someone you would have chosen.
With an LPA in place there would be no OPG charges or solicitors’ fees and no annual fees charged by the court. This could mean a possible saving of thousands of pounds over the years. The LPA has been created to ensure that whilst you are of sound mind you can appoint someone you trust to look after your affairs if it becomes necessary. It also means you will not have to pay unnecessary expenses in the future.
“It’s never too early to make a Will but often too late” – Jaci
