Lasting Power of Attorney
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A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a very important document
that allows you to appoint people who you personally know and
trust, or professionals, to make decisions on your behalf and look
after your best interests should you lose capacity.
There are two main types of LPA. A Property
& Financial Affairs LPA covers your financial
decisions, whereas a Health & Welfare LPA
allows someone to make decisions about
your personal health and care. You can
have both types or either.
An LPA is a legal form but completing one
doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Let’s
clear up some of the legal jargon used on
the forms! As the donor you get to decide how
the attorneys act if you have appointed
multiple people. This could be jointly so
they must make all decisions together,
or ‘jointly and severally’ so they can make
decisions together or individual attorneys
can make decisions alone. There is also a
third option that combines these two. This
allows you to state that some decisions
have to be made jointly, and everything
else jointly and severally.
1. Donor 3. Certificate Provider
You! This is the person who is making
the LPA and appointing people to make
decisions on their behalf in the event of
their incapacity. They are the ‘donor’ of the
power. This is the person who signs your LPA
to confirm that you have capacity and
you aren’t subject to any fraud or being
pressured into making it. There are two
categories of certificate provider; personal
and profession.
2. Attorney
The attorneys are the people who the
donor appoints to make decisions on their
behalf. You can have a single attorney
or multiple attorneys acting together. It
is also possible to appoint professional
attorneys, but make sure you talk to them
about their fees first.
The attorneys you choose must be over 18
at the time the LPA is signed and must
have mental capacity. If you are making
a Property & Financial Affairs LPA your
attorney cannot be bankrupt or subject to
a debt relief order, but this doesn’t matter
for Health & Welfare.
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the society of will writers
A certificate provider acting in a person
capacity must be someone who has known
you for at least two years. This cannot be a
member of your family, so good choices
may be a friend or neighbour.
A professional does not need to have
known you for two years, but they must
have relevant professional skills. This could
be your GP, a solicitor, or your Estate
Planner.
There is quite a long list of people who
can’t act as your certificate provider. Your
Estate Planner will be able to give you
advice on who is appropriate.