Why a Lasting Power of Attorney Can Bring You Peace of Mind

Rachel Barnes, Marketing & Onboarding Manager

Estimated read time: 2 Minutes

Karen Thompson, a Private Client Partner with Nexa discusses the importance of making a Lasting Power of Attorney, and how this can bring peace of mind to individuals and their wider family. 

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) – you might have heard of it, but what does it mean?

An LPA allows the appointment of others to deal with your affairs if you ever became unable to manage them.

A Property and Financial Affairs LPA allows you to appoint others to look after your finances if you became physically or mentally unable to deal with them, whilst a Health & Welfare LPA allows others to make decisions for you if you became mentally incapable of making decisions such as regarding your medical treatment, or where you might live if you ever needed nursing care.

Different attorneys can be appointed to look after your finances to those appointed to look after your health & welfare matters – or you can appoint the same for each.  Restrictions can be placed on what your attorneys can or cannot do or, you can provide guidance to them as to how you would like them to act.

When making an LPA, consider who you would like to appoint, and whether you would like to name a reserve attorney, in case your first choice were unable to act for any reason.  More than one attorney can be appointed, who can act together on all decisions they make for you, or you can allow them to act together and separately if you wish.

An LPA allows choice –  of who you would like to look after your affairs if you are ever unable to.  Without such documentation, if something happens, you have lost control in determining who can deal with your affairs and a Court application will be required instead – a much more time-consuming and costly process than making an LPA. There will be professional costs, such as obtaining medical evidence from an appropriate practitioner in support of the application, in addition to the Court fees, which are much higher that the Court registration fee for an LPA.  This is not to mention the ongoing expense of annual supervision fees for monitoring the work your appointed representative (‘Deputy’) undertakes for you.

Making an LPA enables peace of mind for an individual, reflecting their choice as to who can deal with their affairs should this ever be necessary. Making an LPA now will be at today’s prices – Court fees where applications are required on behalf of an individual who doesn’t have an LPA are more expensive and only likely to increase in the future.

None of us know what might be around the corner.  You insure your home, your possessions, your car, but an LPA is also a form of insurance. It brings peace of mind for you and your loved ones from any future unexpected change in circumstances.

Karen Thompson is a Private Client Partner with Nexa.  To contact Karen about any of the issues outlined in this article, call +44 (0)3300 24 24 20 ext 204, or email karen.thompson@nexa.law