The Complete Guide to Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
A Lasting Power of Attorney gives someone you trust the legal authority to make decisions for you if you can't. Without one, no-one — not your spouse, not your children — has that authority automatically.
In England and Wales there are two types: Property & Financial Affairs, and Health & Welfare. Most people need both. The document is straightforward to prepare, takes around 10 weeks to register with the Office of the Public Guardian, and once registered lasts for life.
The alternative — a Court of Protection deputyship application after capacity has been lost — currently takes around twelve months, costs several thousand pounds, and puts the family under court supervision for the rest of the person's life.
The two types
Property & Financial Affairs LPA: covers everything from paying bills to selling the house. Can be used with your permission while you have capacity, or after you lose it.
Health & Welfare LPA: covers medical treatment, care decisions and — if you specifically opt in — decisions about life-sustaining treatment. Can only be used once capacity is lost.
Choosing attorneys
Usually a spouse and one or more adult children. Attorneys can act 'jointly' (all must agree on every decision) or 'jointly and severally' (any one can act alone). The latter is more practical; the former is safer where there is any risk of family conflict.
Appoint a replacement attorney in case the primary attorney can't act. A great many LPAs fail because a named attorney has died or lost capacity themselves before the document is needed.
When to put one in place
Before you need it. LPAs can only be made while you have capacity. After a stroke, a bad accident or a dementia diagnosis it is often too late.
There is no minimum age. Every adult should have both — it is one of the two most important documents any adult can have, alongside a valid will.
Common mistakes
- ·Assuming a spouse can automatically deal with your affairs. They can't — banks and hospitals require legal authority.
- ·Making only the Property & Financial Affairs LPA and skipping the Health & Welfare one.
- ·Naming attorneys 'jointly' rather than 'jointly and severally', so one attorney's absence or illness paralyses the whole thing.
- ·Leaving it too late — the average Court of Protection deputyship application costs more than 50 times what an LPA costs.
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