In recent years, we have all heard the message that a will is an essential part of life planning and many of us have put this important document into place. However, a Lasting Power of Attorney (‘LPA’) can be every bit as crucial in enabling our affairs to be dealt with in an orderly manner. Setting up an LPA should not be an arrangement that we leave to the last minute as this really could be too late. As I’ve recently hit a milestone birthday and sorted out an LPA myself, this seems like the perfect time to explain why LPAs are important and how you can go about putting this helpful arrangement into place.

First, let’s look at how an LPA can be used. An LPA is intended to give you control over who can make decisions relating to your health or finances when you’re unable to do so. Empowering a relative, friend or adviser the ability to deal with your affairs in advance of any issue means you can choose who you trust with this responsibility. If you are very unwell, a health and welfare LPA may be needed so your trusted helper can take charge of decision making generally. But if you’ve lost mobility or simply feel that financial matters can be too much for you, a financial affairs LPA could be the best option.

A health and welfare LPA only comes into operation when you lose capacity to make decisions for yourself and your friend or relative can then decide what type of care you receive and arrange medical treatment for you. A financial affairs LPA can be used at any time that you elect for it to take effect. So, if you find meeting the bank manager confusing or dislike dealing with the Council, your trusted attorney can step into help with that particular situation whilst you still make decisions about where you live and any treatment that you need.

As you might expect with any legal document, there’s a fair bit of jargon associated with Powers of Attorney in general, but matters are actually quite simple. The person who wants to create the LPA (the ‘donor’) selects the type of LPA that is appropriate and appoints 1 or more ‘attorneys’ to conduct their affairs if they are not able to do so. The LPA needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (the ‘OPG) and the OPG will notify third party friends/family if the LPA is triggered to ensure that everything is above board.

We can break the process down into 5 steps:

1.     Check that you have capacity to create an LPA;

2.     Select the type of LPA that you want to establish;

3.     Identify the right people to make decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to;

4.     Find a certificate provider to witness your signature and verify that you’re making the decision to create an LPA with no undue influence; and

5.     Register the LPA.

The application form is available to complete online at https://www.lastingpowerofattorney.service.gov.uk/home or can be downloaded to fill out by hand at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/make-a-lasting-power-of-attorney. You don’t need to involve a lawyer in the process and the government website provides very detailed guidance on how to complete the information needed.

Provided you are 18 and fit to make decisions on your own behalf, the process should be very straightforward and can give you peace of mind that the right people will be in charge of making decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so for yourself. Whilst you don’t need to be resident in the UK to create an LPA, this arrangement will only be binding over your affairs in England and Wales and you may need to put into place a separate structure to cover the country that you are living in.

In the next quarterly newsletter, we are going to describe in greater detail how to select an attorney to act on your behalf and what the role of a certificate provider is. We will also focus on providing more detail about the situations in which a health and welfare or financial affairs LPA will be more suitable. Setting up an LPA was not the most exciting event of my 50th, but I’ve seen many situations when having an LPA in place has made such a difference so I’m very glad to have made the effort to do so.

This article was prepared by Tracy Coghill, a Compliance officer and our Independent Client Supporter at CAM. We always appreciate your feedback. If you have enjoyed this article or have any specific topics you would like to see addressed in future newsletters, please email us at FPTeam@city-asset.co.uk.