WHY DO I
NEED
AN LPA?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (‘LPA’) is a document which
legally enables one or more individuals you know and
trust, your Attorneys, to have the Power to make decisions
on your behalf if you lose Mental Capacity (‘capacity’).
Unlike a Will which deals with your estate when you are
no longer here, an LPA deals with your Financial and
Care decisions while you are alive but lack capacity.
There are two types of LPA; a Property and Financial
LPA, and a Health and Welfare LPA.
1.
CHOICE
When capacity is lost and there is no LPA in place, the
only alternative is an application for a Deputyship order
which is submitted to the Court of Protection. With a
Deputyship application, anyone over the age of 18 can
apply to the Court of Protection to be your Deputy to
make Financial decisions on your behalf. If your Deputy
is over the age of 18, they have the necessary financial
skills, and if nobody objects to the application, then
deputyship will be granted. The appointed deputies
may not necessarily reflect your intentions. Without an
LPA in place, you would be giving up your power of
choice and leaving it to the Courts to determine who
should make decisions on your behalf and how those
decisions are to be made. Take your power back, and
do not let a stranger or someone you may not have
chosen yourself take control over your Financial and
Care decisions. In the case of a Property and Financial
LPA, you can also specify whether your Attorneys can
use the LPA immediately upon registration, or only when
capacity is lost.
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the society of will writers
You also gain control over exactly how your
attorneys can act. You can appoint your
Attorneys to act (1) jointly, (2) jointly and
severally, or (3) jointly for some decisions
but jointly and severally for other decisions
(the hybrid power). Without an LPA in
place, you would be putting your family
and relatives in a difficult situation when
they have to decide who is to act on your
behalf if you lose capacity.
PLAN FOR
THE FUTURE
Contrary to beliefs like, “I would never
need an LPA”, or “My next of kin will get the
final say”, the reality is that everyone needs
an LPA, regardless of age or current mental
health status. A former Lord Chancellor and
Secretary of State for Justice said in 2007
when LPAs were first introduced,
“We all know how important it is to plan
for the future. Having a Lasting Power of
Attorney (LPA)…in place should be as
common and natural as making a Will”.
Less than 1% of the adult UK population
has an LPA. However, 1 in 3 persons on
average over the age of 65 in the UK
develop dementia (Alzheimer’s Society),
and every 90 seconds someone in the UK,
is admitted to hospital with an acquired
brain injury (Headway). The following are
four reasons why you should make and
register one or both types of LPA.