Right now, the world feels like a pretty unpredictable place, where making plans for our futures is more important than ever. One of the best starting points when considering your future planning is understanding and registering a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). An LPA is a legal document that can help someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so for yourself.
What is Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more individuals (known as attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the mental capacity to make those decisions yourself.
There are two types of LPA:
- Health and Welfare LPA: This type allows your attorney to make decisions about your personal health and welfare. This includes decisions about your daily routine and preferences, medical care, and even life-sustaining treatment.
- Property and Financial Affairs LPA: This type gives your attorney the power to manage your finances and property. This can include paying bills, managing bank accounts, and selling property.
Why Do You Need an LPA?
- Peace of Mind: Having an LPA in place can be reassuring for your friends and family. They will know that there is a plan in place for managing your affairs in the future, as well as it being spearheaded by your values and wishes.
- Ensures Your Wishes Are Followed: Without an LPA, decisions around your health and financial affairs could be made by someone you wouldn’t have chosen yourself. An LPA allows you to choose someone you trust, with your best interests at heart.
- Avoids Lengthy Legal Processes: If you lose mental capacity without having registered a Lasting Power of Attorney, your loved ones will need to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship. The application process to become a deputy often takes more than 3 months. Just to apply for a single deputyship, it can cost £1,336.00 and that’s not including the annual supervision fee or the cost of hiring a solicitor to help you. Not only that, but a deputy must write a report each year explaining the decisions they have made and provide more information should the OPG request it.
- Prevents Family Disputes: We all hope it won’t happen but disputes between family members could arise in the absence of an LPA, and although your family may only want what’s best for you, this doesn’t mean that they will agree on all aspects of your affairs. An LPA provides clear instructions, reducing the likelihood of arguments and misunderstandings.
How to Set Up a Lasting Power of Attorney
Setting up an LPA involves the following steps:
- Choose Your Attorneys: Think carefully about who you trust to make decisions for you. You can choose one or more people.
- Complete the Forms: You will need to fill out the relevant forms for the type of LPA you want to create. Here is where you may benefit from more help. These forms can be complex and are the trickiest part of the process. Over 15% of OPG applications are rejected by the OPG, so they must be filled in the correct order.
- Register the LPA: Send the completed forms to the OPG for registration so your LPA is legally recognised and can be used. Note: OPG registrations are currently taking upwards of 20 weeks.
- Store Safely: Once registered, store the original LPA documents in a safe place.
Conclusion
We cannot stress enough how important it is to register A Lasting Power of Attorney. As many as 4 out of 5 adults (78%) across the UK have not yet registered an LPA. This massively impacts how your family and loved ones can support you when you need it the most.
You can absolutely register your LPA on your own; however, with Libra, we offer in-person (Kent/surrounding areas) and virtual consultations with a hassle-free, hand-held approach to the process giving you confidence and peace of mind.
For more information, visit https://www.librapartnership.co.uk/services/lasting-powers-of-attorney-lpa-services-kent
