A local expert from Citizen’s Advice provides timely tips on consumer issues.
Q: A friend has fallen ill, which has made me think about getting my affairs in order. I’ve heard of setting up a lasting power of attorney, but I don’t know where to begin.
A : Appointing a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) means nominating someone to act on your behalf if you ever lose mental capacity. This could be because you’re diagnosed with a health condition or because something happens to you, like an accident.
The kinds of illness which might prevent you from making decisions for yourself include dementia, mental health problems, a brain injury, alcohol or drug misuse or the side-effects of medical treatment. Setting up an LPA doesn’t mean you’re expecting anything to happen – it’s something you might want to do in case something happens in the future. You must make an LPA while you are still capable of making decisions for yourself.ƒ
There are two types of LPA: property and financial affairs and health and welfare. Both types must be registered before they can be used, and you should choose who manages your affairs for you if you’re no longer able to, very carefully.
A property and financial affairs LPA gives someone the authority to make decisions about things like buying or selling property, bank, building society accounts, welfare benefits and debts.
A health and welfare LPA gives your chosen person the authority to make decisions about things like where you live, your day-to-day care, and your healthcare treatment. It’s not possible to use a health and welfare LPA until the person who made it has lost their mental capacity.
There are two ways you can make an LPA – either online at gov.uk
or by downloading the forms from gov.uk. There is one form for property and affairs and one for health and welfare.
If you want someone to look after both aspects, you will need two separate LPAs.
You need to register the LPA by sending the completed forms to the Office of the Public Guardian. If you need to pay a registration fee, you’ll need to send that too.
If the form has been correctly completed and there are no objections after people have been notified, the Public Guardian must register it. This can take around 20 weeks.
The Public Guardian must notify you and your attorneys that they have registered the LPA, and it can then be used. You can find lots of information on LPAs and other shorter term power of attorneys by visiting the Citizens Advice website.
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