Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA's)
What are they?
Lasting Powers of Attorney for Health & Welfare and Property & Finance protect your wishes while you're alive and unable to care for yourself. They should ideally be set up alongside a Will.
The Health and Welfare LPA lets a trusted person manage your well-being when you can't. The Finance and Property LPA can be used immediately or when you're unable to handle your finances.
Without these LPAs, no one can manage your health or finances. It's crucial to get them while you can.
LPAs take time to be "validated" (currently 20 weeks) and are essential to avoid potential problems. Once in place, they are valid for life.
You need to have attorneys (ideally two or three) who can carry out the responsibility either jointly or individually. Preferably, they should be local rather than miles away, and you must trust them implicitly. Also, age is a consideration. Often, a husband and wife will choose each other as the first attorney, but maybe their children are the others or backups.
Once the LPAs are in place they are difficult to change so careful consideration needs to be made for the choice of Attorneys
It's also worth noting that if your income before tax is less than £12,000 you can apply for a reduction of 50% of the LPA registration cost. Evidence is required to do this
We will, of course, advise you when we discuss your options.
General Terms,
Donor
The person for whom the LPA is for.
Attorney
The trusted person(s) who will act for the Donor in their best interest.
Certificate Provider
A person who has either known the Donor for a reasonable period or Rugby Wills.
Witness
The person who witnesses everyone's signature is usually Rugby Wills.