Are you worried about losing the ability to manage your finances or who will make decisions about your welfare in later life?
Then you may want to consider making a Lasting Power of Attorney.
F Barnes Solicitors are frequently instructed to draw up Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) for a wide variety of clients.
A lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to plan what should happen to you if you become unable to make decisions for yourself in the future. It offers security for you and your loved ones and lets you decide what should happen if old age, illness or injury leave you unable to deal with your own affairs. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney:Property & Financial and Health & Welfare.
By making a lasting Power of Attorney you can:-
- Nominate a person who you trust to look after your affairs and welfare in the future.
- Specify your wishes and what powers your attorneys should have.
- Decide who is told about your Lasting Power of Attorney to allow people to raise concerns now should they wish to do so.
- Reduce the likelihood of conflicts in the future by ensuring that your signature and the signatures of your attorneys are witnessed.
If you can still make decisions for yourself, you can make and register a Lasting Power of Attorney.Once you lose the ability to understand what a Lasting Power of Attorney is, it’s too late. Your family may need to apply for a deputyship instead which can be costly and time consuming.
Planning at this stage can be a simple cost effective way of ensuring peace of mind. As a firm of solicitors, our friendly straightforward advice will take account of the whole picture. Our charges are extremely competitive and usually start at around £600 plus vat. Call us on 01708 745183 or email to make a no obligation appointment.
There are four steps to obtaining a Lasting Power of Attorney:-
- Make an appointment to meet one of F. Barnes Legal Advisors. The Legal Advisor will be able to take all the initial information needed for the application such as your chosen attorneys and the way in which you wish to appoint them. Our legal team can advise you on the best options to suit your personal circumstances and advise you of the likely cost.
- The documents will be drawn up by the legal advisor and they will organise for you and your attorneys to sign the documents, you will also require a certificate provider who is somebody who can confirm you sufficiently understand the document and have the capacity to enter into the lasting power of attorney, this role can often be carried out by your legal advisor however your doctor can also act, as can people who have known you for a period exceeding 2 years as more than an acquaintance. You will also be required to notify one person that you are entering into a Lasting Power of Attorney. This can be a friend or family member but cannot be an already named attorney or certificate provider. The ‘person to notify’ will be sent a notice informing them of your intentions and if they wish to object they have three weeks from the date the notice was sent to them to object. We can advise you on suitable people to appoint as Certificate providers and Persons to Notify.
- Once completed the documents will be submitted to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration, the Court Fee to be paid at this time and is currently £82.00. The Court will write to your legal advisor confirming the approximate date on which the document will be registered and ready to us
- The registered document will be sent to your legal advisor and they will contact you to organise sending copies of the document out to you or your attorneys. The document may be used immediately or stored away until such time as you may need it.