A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which lets you appoint trusted people (Attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf should you become unable to manage your affairs. There are two main types of LPA: Property & Financial Affairs, and Health & Welfare.
Both types of LPA are triggered by the same event: becoming incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself.
A Health & Welfare LPA covers decisions about your personal welfare – how you live, how you are cared for and what type of medical treatment you should receive. For instance, in later life, your Attorney might be the one to decide whether you need to go into a care home or receive care within your own home. It may be that you suffer an injury which requires decisions about appropriate treatment (in conjunction with your doctor). If you are hospitalised or need care, the Health & Welfare LPA ensures decisions sit with trusted loved ones not the Local Authority.
A Property & Financial Affairs LPA authorises the Attorney to make decisions about your property, finances and personal affairs. This could include managing your investments, paying bills for you, continuing to run your business, without requiring court orders (and can allow financial advisors to continue to act).
Accidents and illnesses can strike without warning, even when we are young, we can find ourselves in difficult situations where we’re unable to make decisions for ourselves. If you’re incapacitated because of illness or injury, it can be invaluable to have a trusted person (or persons) to make decisions for you – what type of medical treatment you receive or how your finances and personal affairs should be managed. So really, there is no bad time to have one.
We strongly recommend that when you take out Lasting Powers of Attorney, you take both. There’s sometimes an overlap in difficult situations: an Attorney may need to use your finances, for instance, to pay for your treatment or organise payments to a nursing home. The decision about treatment would fall under the Health & Welfare LPA, but the decision on how it should be paid for would fall under the Property & Financial Affairs LPA.
The forms and process for creating and registering LPAs can be complex. We talk you through all the options, ensure that you understand the key decisions and then we pre-populate the forms for you. We then print and send the documents with detailed signing instructions. Once we receive your LPAs back, we then carefully check them for anything the Office of the Public Guardian may consider incorrect before sending them for registration; we then help track your application and registration. We can also add key clauses to ensure your current financial advisor is allowed to continue to manage your assets.
Whether you are taking LPAs only with us, a Will or use our Hosted Planning & Handover service, copies of your LPAs can also be uploaded to your Kinvault, should they ever be needed. By using your Kinvault, you provide an additional back up in case your Attorneys need key information or support.
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