Lasting Powers of Attorney for both Health & Welfare plus Property & Finance ensure your wishes are protected and preserved while you are still alive, but you may not have the capacity to look after yourself. The setting up normally goes hand in hand with putting a Will in place and is straightforward.

The Health and Welfare LPA allows someone you trust to look after your wellbeing as if they were you,  in all situations when you no longer have capacity. In our opinion, these are essential for anyone who doesn’t want to rely on the NHS or the Council to dictate their future.

The Finance and Property LPA can be used immediately if you wish (i.e. out of the country a lot), but is generally used when you no longer wish to, or can’t manage your finances.

In both cases, no one can take control of your health or finances unless you have the corresponding LPA. You might believe that with a joint account if your spouse loses capacity, you can still manage/use the accounts as you probably have for years. Unfortunately, this is a typical mistaken belief (there are many) as the account(s) would normally be frozen, leaving you potentially with no access to funds.

It is important to get LPA’s in place while you can, as once capacity is lost, you cannot apply for them. You would be reliant on everyone BUT the people you want to look after you. There is the option of applying to the court of protection, but this is costly compared to an LPA.

LPA’s take time to go through the courts (currently @Dec24 ~ 20 weeks) and are not validated until the end of that process. If there is a problem with the application and you’ve left it to the last minute, you may be unable to reapply and have to go to the Court of Protection for their Protection Order. Costs are roughly TEN times more than a single LPA. It literally is “Time is of the Essence”.

Our prices do not include the Office of the Public Guardian fees of £82. We don’t like hidden extras or “disbursements”. We do all the work for you once we’ve guided you through the process and will attend the signing of the documents where everyone who is mentioned in the document must attend as the signing is critical to them being accepted.

Once an LPA is in place, it’s valid for life. Changes can be made if an attorney cannot act, but we always ask for substitutes just in case.

We have seen too often the result of not having LPA’s in place, especially Health and Welfare. Believe us when we say, you really want to avoid that!!

LPA General Terms,

Donor

The person for whom the LPA is for

Attorney

The 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, usually Rugby Wills.