Lasting Powers of Attorney

LPAs are crucially important documents which, like Wills, everyone should consider putting in place. They have become increasingly popular since their introduction in 2007.

It is often thought that LPAs are 'for the elderly' or ‘only needed if you have lost mental capacity’. However, they can, in fact, be helpful in a wide range of circumstances, not only if one has lost mental capacity and, in any event, it is important to think about LPAs before the point of loss of capacity.

There are two types of LPA - property and financial affairs and health and welfare. Broadly speaking, both types enable the donor to appoint a person or people to act on his or her behalf should he or she lose the mental capacity to make decisions for him or herself.

There are statutory safeguards and limitations in place regarding how attorneys must act, a key principle of which is that they must act in the donor’s best interests, and there are legal consequences for them if they deliberately act inappropriately.

Read the full article here.