A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more people to manage your financial affairs or health welfare should you not want to make decisions, or become incapable of doing so. A Lasting Power of Attorney is not valid until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.M
The Government introduced the Lasting Power of Attorney on October 1st, 2007 and it is comprised of two documents:
- Lasting Power of Attorney – Property and Affairs
- Lasting Power of Attorney – Health and Personal Welfare
Property and Affairs
This document covers aspects relating to your property and financial affairs and allows someone else to manage and make decisions in these areas either while you still have capacity, with your permission, or when you lack capacity. Matters covered within the document include:
- Looking after your assets (including property/assets/income, everything)
- Paying your bills
- When can a Lasting Power of Attorney be created?
You can create a Lasting Power of attorney at any point in your life if you are over the age of 18 and have the mental capacity to make one; often clients create them at the same time as making or updating a Will to ensure that their day to day decisions will be made by a trusted family member of friend.
Health and Personal Welfare
This document covers aspects relating to your health and personal welfare and would only come into action if you lack the capacity to make decisions yourself. Decisions that could be made on your behalf include:M
- Where you live
- What medical care you receive (including life sustaining decisions)
- Day to day decisions
Why is a Lasting Power of Attorney essential?
If you do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney, correctly registered with the Office of Public Guardian, the Court of Protection will appoint an attorney to the make decisions on financial and welfare matters on your behalf.
