Calulker & Co
Solicitors
020 8801 9020
020 8801 9020
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a way of giving someone you trust, your attorney, the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the mental capacity to do so in the future, or if you no longer want to make decisions for yourself. There are two types of LPA:
Due to medical advances and better lifestyles many of us are living longer, which means we need to consider who we want to look after our finances and personal welfare when we are unable to do so either through physical or mental incapacity.
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that enables you (a Donor) to appoint one or more people Attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf not only when you have capacity to make such decisions yourself, but also when you lose capacity to make those decisions.
If a person loses mental capacity without having appointed an attorney under an LPA (or revoked their enduring power of attorney), the only alternative way of establishing authority to make decisions on that person’s behalf may be to apply to the Court of Protection for the appointment of a Deputy.
This can be very a time-consuming and costly process. The Court is usually restrictive in the powers given to the deputy because, unlike an attorney (who has been personally chosen by the individual), a Deputy is a Court appointed person who may be unknown to the individual and who has been appointed simply because there is no other way of managing the individual’s affairs.
There are 2 types of LPA, Health and Welfare and Property and Financial affairs
You can choose to make one type or both.
This LPA to gives an attorney the power to make decisions about things like:
Our attorney can only be used when you cannot make your own decisions.
This LPA gives an attorney the power to make decisions about money and property for you, for example:
managing a bank or building society account, paying bills, collecting benefits or a pension, selling your home. It can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.
You will need to choose your attorney/s. You can choose one or more people to be your attorney. If you appoint more than one, you must decide whether they’ll make decisions separately or together. Your attorney needs to be 18 or over. They could be a relative, friend, a professional, for example a solicitor, your husband, wife or partner. You must appoint someone who has the mental capacity to make their own decisions.
Your attorney does not need to live in the UK or be a British citizen.
When choosing an attorney, you need to think about:
You cannot choose someone who is subject to a Debt Relief Order or someone who is bankrupt if you’re making a lasting power of attorney (LPA) for property and financial affairs.
If you’re appointing more than one person, you must decide if they’ll make decisions:
separately or together - sometimes called ‘jointly and severally’ - which means attorneys can make decisions on their own or with other attorneys, together - sometimes called ‘jointly’ - which means all the attorneys have to agree on the decision. You can also choose to let them make some decisions ‘jointly’, and others ‘jointly and severally’.
Attorneys appointed jointly must all agree, or they cannot make the decision.
When you make your LPA you can nominate other people to replace your attorney or attorneys if at some point they cannot act on your behalf anymore.
We will complete the application online or by paper and you and your attorneys will sign. A person to notify will also be we notified. It takes about 10 to 12 weeks to process.
Our Fees for applying for an LPA is £500 plus disbursements per LPA. Each LPA attracts a disbursement fee of £82 payable to the Office of the Public Guardian, but you may get an exemption to pay their fees if in receipt of certain benefits on production of the relevant proof.
