A lasting power of attorney (LPA) allows someone else to make or to help you make decisions on your behalf, which is in your best interests, if you lack the capacity to do so yourself. In many ways having an LPA is as essential as making a will and many clients choose to do both at the same time for that extra reassurance that if during your lifetime you lost the capacity to make your own decisions, someone you trust can immediately take over and make those important decisions for you.
We have advised and assisted many clients over the years both in Oxfordshire and surrounding counties to help them put in place the safeguards they may need in later life.
Why you should consider making a LPA
LPAs may be set up to allow your appointed attorney(s) to take decisions on your behalf in matters of property and financial affairs or in matters relating to your health and welfare. For instance, you might want someone to manage your bank account on your behalf, or to appoint someone who understands your wishes to make decisions about medical treatment or care. Your attorney must act in your best interests when exercising decision making for you.
Various safeguards are built in under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to prevent anyone being forced into an LPA against their wishes. An independent person must act as a certificate provider. This person must either have known the person making the LPA for at least two years or be a professional, such as a solicitor, doctor or social worker, and they must sign the application forms to verify that the person making the LPA has not been pressured into taking out the application.
An LPA may only be used by your attorney or attorneys if and when you are no longer able to act or you lack the capacity to make decisions for yourself and the LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, which oversees LPAs, before it can be used.
We strongly recommend that you protect yourself and your family from an unexpected mental incapacity or deteriorating mental health by having a lasting power of attorney already in place for that eventuality. Contact us to find out more and why you should consider making an LPA today.
Contact Us
Contact us today for legal advice in Oxford.