What is Power of Attorney?
Simply when you are giving the POWER to someone you trust so that they can make decisions over you if you cannot. Example. A parent has suffered dementia and is struggling to make sure that their normal day to day bills are made and paid on time, inc. the rent or mortgage. The son or daughter or husband or wife or live in partner could have power of attorney and can make sure this happens.
Here at David Nicholls, we can arrange this for you, contact us now for a free quote.
REALLY IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT!
The british banking authority will freeze a person’s assets inc. bank account if they are made aware that a person cannot handle their own account. They do this to protect them BUT will cause massive problems as ALL the bills are frozen. Joint accounts also get frozen so people with joint bank accounts have the same problem.
Lasting power of attorney comes in 2 areas – health & wealth and property & finance. You can have one or both areas. Please remember that the OPG (government office where you register the lasting power of attorney (LPA) charge to register the forms. They are as follows:
Registration Fees
- England and Wales: £82 for each lasting power of attorney.
- Northern Ireland: £115 for each enduring power of attorney.
- Scotland: £75 for each power if you register them separately.
What is a Power of Attorney?
If you want to give one or more people the power to completely manage your money and property if you lose mental capacity.
That is, if you can’t make decisions for yourself – you have to set up a permanent power of attorney.
The people who will manage your finances are called your ‘attorneys’, and they’re usually friends or family members.
Are they called Different Names?
A permanent power of attorney has different names in different parts of the UK:
- England and Wales: lasting power of attorney
- Scotland: continuing power of attorney
- Northern Ireland: enduring power of attorney
When to think about Setting up a Power of Attorney
You must have the capacity to make your own decisions when you set up a power of attorney. It’s a good idea to get it set up well before you need it. It’s much harder and more expensive for someone to help you with your money and property if you’ve already lost mental capacity.
And if you get it set up now, it’s there if something happens to you suddenly like an accident or a stroke. Setting it up doesn’t mean you have to give up control. Usually the power of attorney will only come into force once it has been registered. It takes several weeks to register a lasting power of attorney – yet another reason to get it set up early.
England & Wales
There are two types of lasting power of attorney:
- A property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney lets someone manage all your financial affairs – for example, running your bank and savings accounts, managing your tax affairs, and buying and selling investments and property.
- A health and welfare lasting power of attorney lets someone make decisions about your health, care and welfare – for example, what medical treatment you receive and whether you move into a care home.
You can set up one or both.
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