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Lasting Powers of Attorney: Why they’re essential for your future planning
Jan 2025
Private Client
8 MINS

Lasting Powers of Attorney: Why they’re essential for your future planning

Maryam Ahmed, Trainee Solicitor, Private Client

Planning for the future is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones, ensuring peace of mind for everyone. Whilst many people prepare for the future with a Will, one crucial area often overlooked is the possibility of becoming unable to manage personal, financial, or medical matters during your lifetime. This is where a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can become an invaluable tool.

At Hay & Kilner, we understand the importance of planning for the unexpected, which is why we encourage our clients to consider setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney. Maryam Ahmed explains what an LPA is, why you might need one, and how it can benefit you and your loved ones.

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
An LPA is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more trusted individuals (known as Attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf. This can offer peace of mind that in unforeseen circumstances someone you trust can step in to make vital decisions for you.

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney:

  1. Property and Financial Affairs LPA: This allows your chosen Attorney to manage your financial affairs. This can include paying bills, managing investments, and handling property-related decisions such as selling or buying property on your behalf.

  2. Health and Welfare LPA: This grants your Attorney the authority to make medical decisions for you, including consenting to or refusing treatment, choosing care homes, and making decisions about daily living activities if you're unable to do so.

The Property and Financial LPA can be effective as soon as the document has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. In contrast, the Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney can only be activated once you lose mental capacity. To fully benefit from the practical advantages of the Property and Financial LPA, it is recommended that it be effective as soon as it is registered. This is explained in more detail below.

Why do you need an LPA?

  • Protecting your financial affairs
    As we age or face unexpected health issues, managing finances can become challenging. An LPA ensures that someone you trust can step in to help, making life a little easier. This could include paying bills, managing investments, or taking care of everyday financial tasks. By activating your LPA immediately upon registration, you do not have to wait until you lose mental capacity to benefit from this assistance. Without an LPA, your loved ones may need to go through a lengthy court process to be appointed as a deputy. This can be costly and stressful.

  • Making healthcare decisions
    An LPA for Health and Welfare allows you to choose someone who understands your wishes to make medical decisions on your behalf, ensuring your preferences are respected. This might include decisions about treatment options, life-sustaining care, or even decisions about where you live if you need long-term care. Having a trusted individual in charge ensures that decisions made reflect your personal wishes, without leaving your healthcare providers to guess what you would have wanted.

  • Preventing potential conflict among family members
    Without an LPA, your loved ones might face difficult decisions and potential conflicts. An LPA helps avoid these challenges by clearly designating who you trust to make decisions.

  • Minimising delays
    If you become mentally incapacitated, an LPA ensures that your trusted Attorneys can act immediately, avoiding stressful delays and ensuring your affairs are managed promptly.

  • Ensuring your wishes are followed
    An LPA ensures that your personal wishes, whether financial or healthcare-related, are respected and followed, providing you with peace of mind.

How to set up an LPA
Setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney is a straightforward process, and with professional advice, you can ensure everything is done correctly and with care. Here are the basic steps:

  1. Choose your Attorney: Carefully select the person or people you trust to act on your behalf. They should be someone who understands your values, wishes, and who you feel confident will make decisions in your best interest.

  2. Complete the LPA forms: There are specific forms for both the financial and health LPAs. These forms need to be filled out accurately to ensure the document is valid.

  3. Sign and register the LPA: The LPA must be signed by you and your Attorney(s), and the signatures must be witnessed. A Certificate Provider must also verify that the person creating the LPA (the Donor) understands what they are doing and is not being coerced or pressured into making an LPA.

  4. Registering the LPA: The LPA then needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. A registration fee of £82 per LPA must be paid to the Office of the Public Guardian. The registration process can take up to 16 weeks, so it’s essential to start early.

  5. Using your LPA: For your Attorneys to use your LPA, they will need to register the document with relevant health and financial institutions. It is now possible to do this electronically. The Office of the Public Guardian will write to the Donor and Attorneys with an activation key to make use of this new online service.

  6. Keep the LPA updated: It’s important to review your LPA regularly and make any necessary updates if your circumstances or wishes change. If you change an Attorney or want to amend the powers granted, you’ll need to create a new LPA.

Next steps
Setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney can be an essential step in planning for the future, ensuring your wishes are respected and your loved ones are supported. It provides peace of mind, avoids potential legal complexities, and ensures that your wishes are respected.

At Hay & Kilner, we’re here to help you through the process of creating an LPA that fits your specific needs.
Get in touch to find out more.

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‘Hay & Kilner’ and ‘Hay & Kilner Law Firm’ are both trading names of Hay & Kilner LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England & Wales with registered number OC418767. Our registered office is at The Lumen, St James' Boulevard, Newcastle Helix, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 5BZ and we are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (Authorisation number 643191). We use the word ‘partner’ to refer to a member of Hay & Kilner LLP. A list of the members is available at our registered office.