Power of Attorney

Powers of Attorney

Powers of Attorney (POA) have been serving the public for centuries. They are powerful legal documents which allow an individual (Donor) to appoint a person of their own choice (an Attorney), to look after their affairs should they at a later stage no longer wish to make these decisions, or lack the capacity to manage their affairs themselves.

General Power of Attorney

This is a temporary instruction and hence can only be used whilst you have mental capacity (it cannot be used once mental capacity is lost). This is why we always recommend a Lasting Power of Attorney over a General Power of Attorney.

However, as the Lasting Power of Attorney can take circa 4 months to register, there can be good reasons to have both document types (see below).

From October 2007 two new Powers came into effect. Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) have replaced Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) in England, Scotland & Wales, but not Northern Ireland. EPAs made prior to 01/10/2007 continue to be valid.

Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
This allows the persons appointed (the Attorneys) to make decisions about paying bills, dealing with banks and investments, arranging and collecting benefits and even selling property on behalf of the Donor.

For example, this LPA will give your attorneys the power on your behalf to:

Buy or sell your property
Open, close or operate your bank, building society and other investment accounts.
Access your financial information.
Claim, receive and use all benefits, pensions, allowances and rebates.
Receive any income, inheritance or other entitlement.
Deal with your tax affairs.
Pay your mortgage, rent and household expenses.
Insure, maintain and repair your property.
Invest your savings.
Make limited gifts to your family and friends on birthdays, weddings and other appropriate occasions and continue regular donations to charity.
Pay for private medical care and residential care or nursing home fees.
Apply for any entitlement to funding for NHS care or nursing home fees.
Use your money to buy a vehicle or any equipment or other help needed.
Repay interest and capital on any loan you have taken out.

Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
This type of LPA allows you to choose people to act on your behalf and make decisions about your health and personal welfare, when you are unable to make decisions for yourself. Your attorneys may make decisions about your medical treatment, but the attorneys cannot make decisions about life-sustaining treatment unless you specifically state this in your Health and Welfare LPA.

Decisions your attorneys can make on your behalf might include:

Medical matters (for example, giving or refusing consent to medical examination and treatment).
Arrangements needed for you to be given medical, dental or optical treatment.
Where you should live and who you should live with, including perhaps moving into sheltered housing or a care home.
Your day-to-day care, including what to eat and what to wear.
The assessment and provision of any community care service.
Accessing personal information about you such as medical records or legal records.
Whether you should take part in any social, leisure or educational activities including taking you on holiday or authorising someone else to do so.
Your personal paperwork and any correspondence received.
Complaints about your care or treatment.

Ensuring our clients have Lasting Power of Attorney in place is always

recommended in addition to our estate/death planning recommendations

Lasting Powers of Attorney

What happens if the other joint account holder becomes mentally incapable?

In England and Wales, if one party to the joint account loses capacity to operate their account, banks and building societies will use their discretion to determine whether or not to temporarily restrict the operation of the account to essential transactions only (for example, living expenses and medical/residential care bills for both parties) until a Deputy has been appointed or a Power of Attorney registered. If the other joint-account holder appointed you as Attorney, under a ‘Lasting Power of Attorney’ you can register the Power of Attorney and run the joint account. If they appointed someone else, that person would have to agree with you and the bank or building society how to run the joint account and the bank or building society may need a new mandate from you both.

Remember you do not automatically have the right to access the account unless you have a Lasting Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney or an order from the Court of Protection.

What happens if you do not have Lasting Power of Attorney in place?

No doubt you have taken care to ensure that your assets go to the right people when you die by making a Will. If you care enough about what happens to your assets after you die, then you ought to care even more about managing your affairs during your lifetime.

If you were to become mentally incapacitated as a result of an illness or an accident, then without an LPA in place, the ONLY way your financial affairs can be managed is by an application being made to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship order.

The applicant must provide personal information about themselves, their family, their own finances and the relationship with the person they wish to help care for.
Medical evidence as to capacity will also need to be obtained.

This process costs a considerable amount of money and can take anything between 12 weeks and 10 months, by which time your finances could be seriously damaged.

Even worse, a Judge will make the final decision as to who is appointed as the Deputy, and this may not be who you would have wished to manage your affairs.

The appointment does not even have to be a family member. The Court could decide to appoint a Panel Deputy (a retired Solicitor or Barrister who works for the Office of the Public Guardian) or a Local Authority.

While the Court of Protection is important to safeguard the interests of people who don’t have close friends or family, if you want your loved ones to be able to care for you and make decisions on your behalf, you should ensure that you make an LPA while you are still able to do so. Below are some of the reasons why you should make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in preference to a judge appointing a Deputy to manage your affairs.

Deputy
You have no control over who is appointed as your Deputy; this may not be who you would have wished.

There are also Court fees involved and the Deputy has to take out a Security Bond to cover their actions. This is paid annually and the amount is set by the Court. The more assets a person has, the higher the Bond.

Depending on your Supervision Order the Court can also take a retainer. This amount is not disclosed until your application is agreed and is, again, dependent on the amount of assets the person has. Supervision Fees are also applied annually and vary.

A Deputyship order will set out the extent of the powers granted to the Deputy, for example, they may not be allowed to write cheques over £500 without the permission of the Court.

Any major decisions, such as selling a property, may require the Court’s permission.

The OPG assesses each case and places it in a band where it will receive either a low, medium or high level of ongoing supervision. The Deputy must report to the
Court/OPG at all times and may have to submit annual accounts for Court approval and receive periodical visits by a Court Visitor.

A Deputy must account for every penny spent and any requests for money must be made to the Court in writing.

The application for Deputyship is complex and the Deputy must provide personal information about themselves, their family, their own finances and the relationship with the person they wish to care for.

Setting up an LPA allows you to plan in advance:

The people you want to make those decisions for you (your Attorneys).
The decisions you want to be made on your behalf e.g. life sustaining treatments.
How you want your Attorneys to make those decisions e.g. jointly or jointly & severally etc.

Once the LPA is registered with the OPG your Attorneys are able to make financial decisions on your behalf and they must follow the principles as set out in the Mental Capacity Act when making these decisions.

Your Attorneys are free to act on your behalf without involvement from the OPG, unless a concern is raised as to how the Attorney is acting.

Minimal personal details are required for both the Donor and the Attorney to set up the LPA, and it is a much less intrusive process.

Setting up an LPA is also a much quicker process than applying to the Court for a Deputyship order.

To ensure full transparency regarding the services and costs involved in setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), South Coast Legal Services Limited clearly outlines all individual elements of the process in Section 4 of our price list.

Our discounted Package Offer (Option E) offers a lower cost option to help our clients ensure they have this important planning in place.

Clients can then choose if required to add our additional services such as Certificate Provider Service, Checking or Checking & Registration Service(s).

This flexible approach allows us to break the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) process into its individual stages, rather than only offering a more expensive fully registered LPA. This is a valued service for many of our clients, giving them greater choice, control, and affordability.

Do you have Power of Attorney and the CORRECT Will in place?

Lasting Powers of Attorney

What happens if you do not have Lasting Power of Attorney in place?

No doubt you have taken care to ensure that your assets go to the right people when you die by making a Will. If you care enough about what happens to your assets after you die, then you ought to care even more about managing your affairs during your lifetime.

The people you want to make those decisions for you (your Attorneys).

The decisions you want to be made on your behalf e.g. life sustaining treatments.

How you want your Attorneys to make those decisions e.g. jointly or jointly & severally etc.

To ensure full transparency regarding the services and costs involved in setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), South Coast Legal Services Limited clearly outlines all individual elements of the process in Section 4 of our price list.

Our discounted Package Offer (Option E) offers a lower cost option to help our clients ensure they have this important planning in place.

Clients can then choose if required to add our additional services such as Certificate Provider Service, Checking or Checking & Registration Service(s).

This flexible approach allows us to break the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) process into its individual stages, rather than only offering a more expensive fully registered LPA. This is a valued service for many of our clients, giving them greater choice, control, and affordability.

Note: To use our services you must be over 18 and have the required capacity. Our services exclude any Office of the Public Guardian fee.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

What happens if you do not have Lasting Power of Attorney in place?​

​No doubt you have taken care to ensure that your assets go to the right people when you die by making a Will. If you care enough about what happens to your assets after you die, then you ought to care even more about managing your affairs during your lifetime.

​​​

The people you want to make those decisions for you (your Attorneys).

The decisions you want to be made on your behalf e.g. life sustaining treatments.

How you want your Attorneys to make those decisions e.g. jointly or jointly & severally etc.

To ensure full transparency regarding the services and costs involved in setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), South Coast Legal Services Limited clearly outlines all individual elements of the process in Section 4 of our price list.

Our discounted Package Offer (Option E) offers a lower cost option to help our clients ensure they have this important planning in place.

Clients can then choose if required to add our additional services such as Certificate Provider Service, Checking or Checking & Registration Service(s).

​

This flexible approach allows us to break the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) process into its individual stages, rather than only offering a more expensive fully registered LPA. This is a valued service for many of our clients, giving them greater choice, control, and affordability.

Note: To use our services you must be over 18 and have the required capacity. Our services exclude any Office of the Public Guardian fee.

What happens if you do not have Lasting Power of Attorney in place?

No doubt you have taken care to ensure that your assets go to the right people when you die by making a Will. If you care enough about what happens to your assets after you die, then you ought to care even more about managing your affairs during your lifetime.