There may come a time in your life when you need help dealing with your day to day affairs. A Power of Attorney is a document under which you can give another person the legal power to assist you. Enduring Powers of Attorney made before 1st October 2007 are still valid and will enable your attorney(s) to deal with property and financial affairs with your consent. If your attorney(s) has reason to believe that you have become or are becoming mentally incapable of managing your affairs, your attorney(s) will have to apply to the Court of Protection for registration of this power. In October 2007 two new types of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) were introduced. Lasting Power of Attorney for Property and Financial Affairs This LPA gives your attorney power to look after your property and finances on your behalf. This would include the ability to deal with the following matters:
- Managing bank accounts and investments
- Selling your property
- Handling state benefits and pensions
- Completing your income tax return
- Making certain gifts
You can include restrictions in the document which limit what the attorney can do. Such restrictions need to be carefully phrased so that they don't cause confusion in the future. Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare This LPA allows your attorney to make decisions about your health and personal welfare. This would include the following types of decision:
- Where you are to live
- Arrangements for your day to day care
- Decisions relating to medical treatment
- Access to your personal information
- Making complaints about your care or treatment
Once again, you can limit the scope of the LPA if you do not want your attorney to have such wide powers. You can, should you wish, give your attorney the power to refuse consent to life-sustaining medical treatment on your behalf. An Enduring Power of Attorney will not cover decisions about health and welfare, so it is worth considering whether you may need to make a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare for these decisions. Local authorities, care homes and hospitals are now increasingly asking for these from relatives and friends, when assisting people in their care. If you would like to discuss these further, please do not hesitate to contact Breda Cashell, Rachel Baseley, Louise Rudkin or Shaun Talbot in the Private Client Department who will be happy to assist you. You can contact them on 0114 2666 660 or alternatively you can send them an email to [email protected].
