5 Benefits of a Lasting Power of Attorney
Whilst a Will can protect your family after you have passed, what about protecting yourself and your family should you find yourself unable to care for your own matters?
Whether that be making bill payments or giving authority for essential healthcare, without the appropriate documentation in place you could find yourself in a difficult position of being unable, whether through physical or mental incapacity, to manage your own finances and healthcare.
Here are our 5 benefits of having a Lasting Power of Attorney and why you should really consider prioritising having one.
1. Having an LPA allows for better decisions to be made.
Imagine not having the capacity to make crucial decisions regarding your finances, property and assets or having the capacity to make potentially life changing decisions regarding your health and wellbeing. Sounds scary?
Having an LPA in place means that your nominated and trusted person can make those decisions on your behalf. That person will have the legal authority to act on your behalf resulting in better decisions being made with regards to your financial and healthcare needs.
2. You have the freedom to choose who to nominate.
Handing over the responsibility of your finances and healthcare decisions can be a frightening thing to do, especially if you have always had a tight rein on such matters. With an LPA you can choose who to nominate, therefore putting you in control and giving you comfort that should your nominated person be called upon they will do so with your very best interests at heart.
You can nominate almost anyone at all, from a partner, a friend, a family member or your children. If you wish, you can appoint more than one Attorney.
3. Having an LPA can avoid delays, high costs, stress and upset.
If you were to lose the capacity to deal with your own financial and healthcare matters and don’t have an LPA in place then the day-to-day managing of your finances and healthcare can become stressful and upsetting for both you and your family and a family member, for example, cannot simply take control on your behalf.
4. You have the choice over what type of LPA to put in place.
For a person to take control they have to apply for a Deputyship Order from the Court which can be both time consuming and expensive with waits of 8 months or longer becoming the norm. Even if authority is granted it may be granted to a person who you may not have chosen for this role. With an LPA this decision is entirely yours to make. There are two types of LPA. One to cover your finances and one to cover your health.
A Property and Financial Affairs LPA grants your nominated person the authority to manage your finances, property and assets. A Health and Welfare LPA grants your nominated person the authority to make decisions on your healthcare, any surgeries or treatments you may require, and also extend to making decisions on your living arrangements. You can also grant your nominated person the authority to make end of life care decisions.
You can even choose different people for each role.
5. It provides peace of mind for you and your family.
We never want to imagine the worst but it’s wise to plan for it – just in case. If you have a Will in place then your family is protected when you pass and with an LPA in place both you and your family will have peace of mind, safe in the knowledge that if your mental or physical capacity took a turn your affairs will be well looked after.
You can provide guidance and instructions in your LPA, ensuring that your nominated person and family are fully aware of your wishes and that these can be acted upon.
Who can make decisions when someone has lost mental capacity and there is no last power of attorney in place?
When someone loses mental capacity without a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, their family may be unsure who can make important decisions on their behalf. From managing finances to making care decisions, this article explains what options are available and how a deputyship application can help.
Get in touch with our lasting power of attorney lawyers in West Yorkshire
If you are ready to make a Lasting Power of Attorney or even make a Will (if you don’t yet have one) then call us today to discuss your circumstances and to make an appointment. Speak to our solicitors in Wakefield, Ossett, Garforth, Sherburn in Elmet or Ackworth in Yorkshire today by calling 01924 290 029 or ask a question using our online enquiry form.
Common questions about Lasting Powers of Attorney:
To create a Lasting Power of Attorney, you will need to:
• Choose an attorney or attorneys to act for you
• Fill out the appropriate form (or have your solicitor do this for you)
• Register the LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian
Creating an LPA can take up to around 3 months and it is strongly recommended to have an experienced solicitor help you with the process to ensure all of the relevant issues are correctly considered and accounted for.
An attorney can be anyone aged 18 or over. Typically, they will be a spouse, partner, family member of close friends. However, some people choose to nominate a professional attorney, who could be a solicitor, accountant or other relevant professional, giving you the benefit of their skills and judgement. An attorney cannot be bankrupt if appointed as an attorney for property and financial affairs.
You can have more than one attorney, in fact, there is no limit on the number you can have. If you choose to nominate more than one, you can decide how they will make decisions for you.
There are three main options for how attorneys can make decisions:
Jointly – Your attorneys will need to agree all decisions unanimously. This means individual attorneys cannot act alone, which could be a problem under some circumstances e.g. if you were hospitalised and not all of your attorneys could be reached in time to make a critical decision. Be careful as if you chose this option and one of your attorneys dies or becomes unable to act the other attorneys can no longer make decisions unless you have appointed a replacement attorney.
Jointly and severally – Your attorneys can act together but can also act individually. This provides the most flexibility, as if one of your attorneys dies or becomes unable to act or is unavailable decisions can still be made, however, this runs the risk of an attorney making a decision for you that the other attorneys do not agree with e.g. over when to sell your home.
A mixture of jointly & jointly and severally – You can specify that your attorneys need to agree on certain decisions e.g. selling your house, but can act independently in an emergency e.g. if a quick decision is needed about medical treatment.
Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) preceded Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) and provided some of the same functions. The key differences were that EPAs could not be used to manage health or welfare issues and assumed the donor either had complete mental capacity or none at all.
EPAs therefore failed to make provisions for people who had partial capacity or fluctuating capacity and so only needed assistance with decisions, rather than for someone else to be wholly responsible for making decisions for them.
LPAs replaced EPAs from 1 October 2007.
An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before October 2007 will still be legally valid. An EPA created and signed by the donor before October 2007 can also still be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.
A Lasting Power of Attorney must be set up by the person whose affairs it is intended to deal with while they still have the capacity to make decisions for themselves.
If your loved one has already lost the capacity to make decisions, you will instead need to apply to become a Court of Protection deputy to gain the power to manage their affairs. Our solicitors can assist and guide you through this legal process and please get in touch for a free initial consultation.
Thornton Jones Solicitors’ Offices
The content of this blog post is for information only and does not constitute formal legal advice and should not be relied upon as advice. Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited accepts no liability for any such reliance upon this content. Where the post includes links to external websites, Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited accepts no responsibility for the content of such sites. Any link to a third-party website should not be construed as endorsement by Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited of any content, products or services which are outside our direct
Legal Assistant In Lockdown
It’s really hard to write something when you are usually in the ‘background’ and doing what we do best in assisting the brilliant people we work for. I’m not one for putting myself in the public eye, I suffer (like a lot of people) with anxiety and depression, so I usually like to keep myself locked away far away from the public eye and do what I do best (if I don’t mind saying so myself) by keeping my head down and getting through the ever mounting list of dictation.
I’ve honestly found the last 3 weeks being working remotely at home quite alright. My happy place is my home and I’m lucky to feel that way. I am fine and dandy being here at home working away in the spare room until this week kicked in.
My happy place is my home and I’m lucky to feel that way
Crikey I’ve felt low, tearful, stressed out and under pressure this week. Everything has slowed down, backlogs at court, communications, return updates and it’s frustrating. It’s placing a huge amount of pressure on people’s lives and I get that (I am one of those people from a personal point too). This week has been a huge deal. My lovely partner has been at home fetching brews to me (and a wine at 5pm) instead of my lovely friend at work Michelle (she keeps me watered with brews on a proper level). I’ve missed Jess with her huge personality and upbeat work ethic and Janet who I’ve worked with for 18 years. You, Janet, showed me so much (I know when I left school I thought I knew everything) and I will always be grateful for your love, patience and affection to me and also to my family.
To those I haven’t mentioned specifically, it absolutely doesn’t mean you don’t matter – you do – more than you will ever know.
I salute you and you are all amazing and our heroes
I’ve watched the concert today that was aired last week and feel completely humbled. I have key workers in my family from my step-mum who works in a school to my sister who works in a care home and my mother in law who cleans at Pinderfields hospital. I salute you and you are all amazing and our heroes.
Myself and my partner were lucky enough to have a new nephew born recently and we were able to meet and cuddle him before all this happened. We bonded and I made sure he knew that auntie Stacey is the cool Aunt that doesn’t ‘do the nappies’ but will give the best cuddles ever. I felt he ‘understood’ and we ‘got’ each other. I miss him along with all of our babies that we can’t see. I miss you all massively. We had a new niece born 3 weeks ago and we haven’t been able to meet her yet. I can’t wait to get my hands on her and I bet she can’t wait either.
I’m doing the best thing I possibly can by staying at home and keeping working to try as much as possible to keep clients’ matters proceeding
I would love to do more for the community and have felt very much that I haven’t done very much or enough but then I realised that by staying at home (and my partner doing the essential shopping – for wine obvs.) that I’m doing the right thing. I’m doing the best thing I possibly can by staying at home and keeping working to try as much as possible to keep clients’ matters proceeding and try to keep making a difference in my own way and any way that I can – no matter how small.
I am trying – we are all trying in our own way! Stay safe, take care, and be patient! We can all do this if we do it together.
Contact us
Whatever your legal needs we are here to help. Whether you are buying or selling property, in need of Family Law advice, or perhaps you with to make a Will or update an existing Will, our solicitors in Yorkshire are here to guide you every step of the way.
The content of this blog post is for information only and does not constitute formal legal advice and should not be relied upon as advice. Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited accepts no liability for any such reliance upon this content. Where the post includes links to external websites, Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited accepts no responsibility for the content of such sites. Any link to a third-party website should not be construed as endorsement by Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited of any content, products or services which are outside our direct control.
Prince Died Four Years Ago and Left No Will.
Four years ago today the music legend Prince passed away. With a career earning him seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards and a Golden Globe Award to name just a few you’d expect him to have an Estate worth a bob or two. But what happens if you die without a Will?
In fact it’s estimated his Estate was worth over $150 million and with posthumous releases of his work it’s likely to have grown in size. But guess what, despite such riches, Prince didn’t have a Will in place.
Why Should You Make A Will?
With no documented wishes, there ensured an onslaught of children, siblings, distant family members and ex-wives all trying to make claim to the Estate. What followed was reportedly a three year legal battle costing in excess of $45 million. That’s a lot of his Estate spent fighting, surely not something that Prince would have wanted to happen to nearly a quarter of his worth.
Making a Will often seems like just ‘one of those jobs’ and gets put on the back-burner to be dealt with when the more exciting things in life allow. And this is fine until it’s too late. Then what’s left behind is a family, potentially a feuding family, having to deal with an Estate whilst also grieving.
By taking the time to make a Will, you ensure that your wishes are honoured and your loved ones aren’t left to navigate a complex and costly legal battle. It’s a simple step that provides clarity, peace of mind, and, most importantly, avoids the stress and heartache of family disputes during an already difficult time. Don’t leave things to chance and make a Will today to protect both your legacy and the people you care about.
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How Long Does it Take To Make A Will?
All it takes is a couple of hours to document your wishes and make a Will. These couple of hours can save weeks, if not months, of anguish and upset and falling out not to mention the hefty price tag that comes with contesting a Will.
While it is possible to write a Will yourself, using a qualified solicitor ensures that your Will is legally sound, accurately reflects your wishes, and minimises the risk of disputes after your passing. A solicitor can provide expert advice on complex issues such as inheritance tax, trusts, or ensuring vulnerable beneficiaries are properly protected. They will also ensure your Will meets all legal requirements under the law of England and Wales, reducing the risk of it being challenged or deemed invalid. By seeking professional guidance, you can have peace of mind knowing that your Estate will be distributed exactly as you intend.
Having a Will in place ensures that your estate is distributed according to your wishes after your death. Without a valid Will, your estate will be divided according to the laws of intestacy, which may not reflect your preferences. This could lead to family disputes, unnecessary legal costs, and a prolonged probate process. A Will provides clarity and can prevent the emotional and financial strain on your loved ones during an already difficult time.
You can write your own Will, known as a ‘DIY Will’, but it’s important to ensure that it is legally valid and clearly outlines your wishes. If you choose to write your own, it must meet all the legal requirements, such as being signed and witnessed correctly. However, using a solicitor can provide peace of mind that the Will is valid and that you are not overlooking important aspects, especially if you have a complex estate or family situation.
If someone dies without a Will in England and Wales, their estate will be distributed according to the rules of intestacy. This means the government will decide who inherits your assets, which might not align with your wishes. In some cases, this could cause financial strain or family disputes, especially if you have dependents or stepchildren. It’s always best to make a Will to ensure that your assets go to the people you want and avoid unnecessary legal complications.
Already Have a Will? Why Is It Important to Update Your Will?
Making a Will is a crucial step in protecting your loved ones and ensuring your wishes are carried out, but it’s not a one-time task. Life changes like marriage, divorce, having children, acquiring new assets, or even changes in tax laws, can all impact the relevance and effectiveness of your Will. If your Will no longer reflects your current wishes or circumstances, it could lead to unintended consequences, including disputes among family members or assets being distributed in ways you no longer intend. Regularly reviewing and updating your Will ensures that it remains valid and aligned with your latest intentions.
How Do I Update My Existing Will?
Updating your Will is straightforward but must be done correctly to ensure its legal validity. In England and Wales, you can update your Will by:
- Creating a Codicil – A codicil is a legal document that makes minor amendments to an existing Will without needing to rewrite it entirely. However, it must be signed and witnessed in the same way as your original Will.
- Making a New Will – If your changes are significant, it’s often better to create a new Will that revokes the old one. This ensures clarity and avoids confusion over conflicting instructions.
To avoid mistakes or legal challenges, it’s always advisable to seek professional guidance from a solicitor when updating your Will. They can help ensure your amendments are properly recorded and legally binding, giving you complete peace of mind.
Contact us
Our advice is to make a Will. Click here to see our fees for making a will. With our will writing services in Yorkshire we will make sure that your wishes are heard when it comes to dealing with your estate when you die. If you wish to make a will or update an existing will then call us at any of our offices to discuss our needs and to make an appointment.
The content of this blog post is for information only and does not constitute formal legal advice and should not be relied upon as advice. Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited accepts no liability for any such reliance upon this content. Where the post includes links to external websites, Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited accepts no responsibility for the content of such sites. Any link to a third-party website should not be construed as endorsement by Thornton Jones Solicitors Limited of any content, products or services which are outside our direct control.
