Sadly, only a few people think about setting up a lasting power of attorney to protect their best interests if they were to lose mental capacity. Even today, most people think that LPAs are only a concern for the elderly. If you still share the same misconception, it’s time to change your perspective.
An LPA can serve as a valuable safety net for you as well as your loved ones should your capacity to attend to important financial affairs and critical decisions be diminished in the future. Here are some things about a lasting power of attorney that you should know about:
- A person needs two kinds of LPAs in order to be fully covered by its provisions. One type of LPA covers finance and property, while the other covers health and welfare. Your property and finance LPA attorney will have access to your bank accounts and will be responsible for the continuous management of your bills as well as your mortgage payments. Your health and welfare LPA attorney, on the other hand, will have the power to make health and welfare-related choices according to your best interests. Such decisions range from the type of care you will receive to whether life-sustaining treatment should be withheld.
- Before LPAs, there was the enduring power of attorney or EPA. While these powers of attorney are still valid, they don’t cover a person’s health and welfare decisions, which means your family will not be able to make decisions on such matters on your behalf should you suffer incapacity or disablement.
- A joint account does not constitute the same provisions as an LPA. Banks can shut down an account or freeze assets in the event that one of the joint account holders become incapacitated.
Note that it is not enough to draft an LPA without registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian. Until registered, the LPA may not be used or enforced.
MVL Wills and Trusts of Battle, East Sussex, can help you with their will writing and planning experience, and advice. A consultation is free and can be held at our offices or in the comfort of your own home. Call 01424 577070 or email info@mvlwillsandtrusts.co.uk for an appointment.