When making a Lasting Power of Attorney, what are the key points to consider?
Tuesday 17th November 2020
Having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place can take away some of the stress and practical difficulties your family may face if you are no longer able to look after your own affairs.
If you are thinking of making a Lasting Power of Attorney, you should take the following into consideration.
Act Early
You are only able to make a Lasting Power of Attorney whilst you have mental capacity. Don’t leave it too late!
Choosing Your Attorneys
Your attorneys must be people you trust implicitly. These people will have the power to control important areas of your life such as your finances, property and welfare.
Speak to your attorneys before they take on the role. It is important that they are on board with being responsible for looking after your affairs should you need them to.
Appointing More Than One Attorney
You can choose to appoint more than one Attorney to act on your behalf and it is possible to have up to four. If you decide to appoint more than one person then you will need to decide how they are going to make decisions about your affairs. Can they make decisions together or are you comfortable for them to make decisions independently of one another?
It is also possible for you to appoint up to four replacement attorneys who can step in should your original attorneys be unable to act. Having a replacement attorney means that your Lasting Power of Attorney will still work if your original attorney can no longer act on your behalf.
Registering your LPA
You can either register your Lasting Power of Attorney as soon as it is in place and signed by you and your attorneys or you can leave it to be registered at a later date. There is a registration fee payable to the Office of the Public Guardian of £82 per Lasting Power of Attorney.
We usually advise for you to register your Lasting Power of Attorney straight away. The application and registration of the Lasting Power of Attorney can take around 12 weeks. By registering it now your Lasting Power of Attorney is activated and ready for your attorney to use it if needed.
If you decide not to register it and your attorney needs to act on your behalf, they would need to then register the Lasting Power of Attorney before they could act. This could be a critical time when decisions need to be made and action taken.
If you are thinking of putting a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, we will be happy to talk you through the process. You can contact one of our experts below.
