Lasting Power of Attorney
Our specialist solicitors at Rowlinsons are experts in providing Lasting Power of Attorney. We work on your side and by your side to ensure that you receive straightforward and effective legal advice.
Our Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors are always available to help you make a strong plan as a donor or attorney for a loved one.
A Lasting Power of Attorney enables you to plan for the possibility that you may eventually require assistance making decisions about your health, welfare or finances. Without securing the guidance of someone you trust to execute your wishes appropriately, managing your affairs could become more costly and complex than necessary. If you’re seeking peace of mind that your needs will be taken care of properly when you’re most vulnerable, Rowlinsons’ Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors can assist with the drafting and registration of your Lasting Power of Attorney.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) legally authorises one or more appointed persons (attorneys) to make crucial decisions on your behalf. Creating a Lasting Power of Attorney gives you peace of mind that someone you trust will handle your business when you become incapable of doing so yourself.
A Lasting Power of Attorney allows you to set out in writing exactly how you want certain matters dealt with and who is to be responsible for them, all of which the attorney is obligated to honour; this lets you have more control over your future finances and personal welfare.
The advantage of a Lasting Power of Attorney is that you can set it up and register it before you need it, i.e. while you still have the mental capacity, so when the time comes, it’s ready, and there’s no delay in crucial decision-making.
There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney: one for making financial decisions and the other for making decisions regarding health and welfare.
With the health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney, the appointed attorney can only make choices about your medical care and care arrangements once you lose the ability to do so. For the financial Lasting Power of Attorney, your attorney can make decisions for you while you’re still mentally able but don’t feel fully confident doing so. Bear in mind that this must be explicitly stated when setting up.
Having a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney in place means there can be fast, decisive action on matters such as:
A property and Financial Affairs LPA allows the appointed attorney to make financial decisions on:
Getting an LPA is a complex procedure, and all safeguards must be placed to protect your interests, whether as an attorney or donor.
Seeking legal advice from a lawyer for Power of Attorney means ensuring the document is drafted carefully for the best chance of the registration being approved by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). All parties involved must fully understand the consequences of appointing a Lasting Power of Attorney.
At Rowlinsons, we can guide you every step of the way to ensure you get it right. With a strong plan that outlines all the right protections, you can be sure to have the full picture of what your LPA process will look like.
Acting an attorney involves making any financial or health decisions on behalf of someone else (the donor). If you have been appointed as an attorney, where possible, you should help the donor make any decisions while they still have mental capacity.
Once the donor loses the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, you are responsible for acting on their behalf, depending on the responsibilities granted by the Lasting Power of Attorney. You must always put the donor’s best interests at heart and follow written instructions on what to do in certain circumstances. In addition, it’s your responsibility to keep the accounts up to date to keep track of all transactions.
If you are uncertain what course to take, guidance is available on making crucial decisions. You can get advice from social services, the Court of Protection, and the Office of the Public Guardian. Attorneys should also follow the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice.
When no Lasting Power of Attorney has been granted for someone who loses mental capacity, a relative or someone close to the person can apply to the Court of Protection, and receive deputyship or request the appointment of a professional Court of Protection deputy (often a solicitor or professional advisor).
This can often be a more time consuming and expensive process at a delicate time, so planning ahead can be more effective and help you minimise stress for you and your loved ones. Our specialist LPA Solicitors can ensure you have a strong plan in place for the future.
Limited or Ordinary Power of Attorney (OPA) is granted for a short period, allowing someone to handle another person’s finances only, including paying their bills when in hospital or out of the country. Ordinary Power of Attorney does not authorise the appointed person to make health decisions.
Assigning ‘power of attorney’ to an individual allows them to act on your behalf but only applies so long as you have full mental capacity. If you lose mental capacity, the power of attorney is no longer valid.
Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) are an older type of agreement that has been in place up to October 2007, and only dealt with financial issues. EPAs were replaced with LPAs, which offer much more versatility and allow attorneys to make health and welfare decisions on behalf of a donor as well.
While you cannot register new EPAs or amend existing ones anymore, you can cancel one at any point while you have mental capacity. If you wish to make changes to an existing EPA, you may cancel the EPA and make a new LPA, or add a Health and Welfare LPA for additional attorney powers.
A Lasting Power of Attorney can be set up at any time by anyone over the age of 18 who has full mental capacity. Lasting Power of Attorney can be permanent or temporary: you might only need it while going through an illness, for example. The OPG encourages everyone to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney and to see it as insurance that your financial and healthcare wishes will be carried out if anything ever happens to you.
When a family member lacks sufficient mental capacity to appoint a Lasting Power of Attorney, perhaps due to illness or injury, Rowlinsons can advise on submitting a formal application to the Court of Protection to appoint a deputy.
You can void a Lasting Power of Attorney at any time while you have mental capacity by signing a deed of revocation and informing the attorney that their power has been revoked. The person with power of attorney must confirm this, which will return the power of attorney to you. If you registered the Lasting Power of Attorney with the Office of the Public Guardian, you must also send them a copy of the signed deed so the Lasting Power of Attorney can be removed from the register.
When setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney, the first step is to appoint a trusted person or persons of your choice. They don’t need legal experience, but they should be someone you trust to have your best interests at heart. They could be a friend, family member or even a solicitor. The benefit of appointing a solicitor as your attorney is that they have extensive legal experience and a solid understanding of the law, which will better inform the decisions they make on your behalf.
Whatever instructions you include in your Lasting Power of Attorney is entirely up to you. You can restrict the different types of decisions that your attorney can make or select to entrust them with everything.
Once the donor and the attorney have drafted and signed the document, it must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before the attorney can act. The registration process can take up to 16 weeks, and you can’t use the Lasting Power of Attorney during this time, but as soon as the Lasting Power of Attorney is registered, it’s ready to use when you need it.
If you’re ever unable to make decisions for yourself, it’s good to know that your best interests will be served. Having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place ensures that you’ll get the right care when you need it.
Appointing an attorney now acts as insurance against loss of control in future decision-making in case you are diagnosed with a long-term degenerative condition such as dementia.
Having a Lasting Power of Attorney could also save you money. Without a Lasting Power of Attorney, your relatives would need to apply for a Court of Protection Order to appoint a deputy if they needed someone to manage your finances, which can cost significantly more than it takes to create a Lasting Power of Attorney.
A lifetime planning solicitor can offer expert, tailored advice to protect your long-term interests and bring you peace of mind. At Rowlinsons, we have extensive experience helping individuals appoint Lasting Power of Attorney and supporting attorneys to effectively carry out their role to protect their loved one’s best interests.
The high quality of client care, professionalism, and legal expertise we provide to individuals across the UK have earned our Wills, Trusts, and Estate Planning Solicitors at Rowlinsons many awards and accolades over the years, making us the first choice for private client legal services across the North West, Cheshire, and the whole of England and Wales.
Our Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors in Cheshire guide clients across the United Kingdom through the legal process of setting up and enforcing a Lasting Power of Attorney, including individuals in Warrington, Widnes, St Helens, Chester, Wrexham, Northwich, and across North Wales from our offices in Frodsham and Runcorn (Sutton Weaver).
Protecting your interests is our priority. With our specialist Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors, you can be sure your wishes are respected if you cannot handle your health or financial choices.
Call us today for an initial no-obligation call, or click here for a callback. We also have meeting facilities in North Wales by appointment.
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