Lasting Powers of Attorney

There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA): one relating to health and welfare, and the other relating to finance and property.

The purpose of setting up and registering an LPA is to ensure that if you become unable to take decisions on your own behalf, for example due to illness or injury, a nominated person or persons step in and become the people who take those decisions on your behalf.

Clearly for important matters such as these you want to have someone you trust in the position of responsibility.

If you have not made such provisions and the worst happens, applying for a Deputyship of Order through the Court of Protection, is a lengthy and costly process.

Once created, the LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, at a small additional charge. You can choose to do this immediately, which means you can then forget all about it knowing the full process has been completed, or you can choose to create the LPA but not register it until such time as it’s needed.

Either way the LPA can only be utilised once the donor (that’s the person who becomes unable to make decisions) has lost the ability to express their wishes or to manage their affairs. When this happens the attorneys (the people nominated to make decisions in the donor’s place) can begin looking after the

donor’s financial affairs or their health and welfare decisions, depending on which LPA has been set up (or both).

We can help you decide who should be your attorneys, work through and complete the paperwork with you, and register the LPA on your behalf.

We advise on all cases of Lasting Power of Attorney including liaising with The Office of the Public Guardian.