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Preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney – what should you consider?

If you decide to appoint someone as your attorney and prepare a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), it is important to do your research and consider the following.

LPAs are most useful when you no longer have mental capacity to make decisions and they must be registered before they can be acted upon.

There are two different types of LPA – property and finance and health and welfare – which means you may want to appoint two attorneys to take care of these different affairs.

Property and finances

Appointing this type of attorney will mean that they can help you with decisions on:

Bank accounts
Money, bills and taxes
Pensions
Properties and investments

Once you have appointed an attorney, you can decide if they will make decisions straight away for you, even while you still have the mental capacity to do so, or make decisions for you after you are unable to do so yourself.

Health and welfare

A different attorney can be appointed for decisions regarding health such as:

Where you will live
The care you will receive
Consent over medical treatment

This LPA will only be used if you have lost the ability to make decisions regarding your personal welfare.

Contacting a solicitor

You should consult with a solicitor when deciding on LPAs to ensure the necessary documentation is drafted correctly and your attorneys are correctly registered.

You may also choose to appoint your solicitor as an additional attorney to decide on matters based on their knowledge of your personal affairs and wishes.

Contact us today for more information on LPAs and how you should begin the process.

David Webb

Consultant – non-practising