Are you too young for a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document. It allows you to appoint someone that you trust as an ‘attorney’ to make decisions on your behalf.  Attorneys can make decisions for you when you no longer wish to or when you lack the mental capacity to do so.   Before you can use it, it must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

A Lasting Powers of Attorney can come in one of two types, either to cover property and financial matters or to cover health and welfare. As a financial planner its the property and financial matters version we recommend our clients have in case they lose their mental capacity. It enables you to donate a power of attorney to your partner and/or others to work either jointly or severally in your best interests to manage your finances.

Clients often associate making a Lasting Power of Attorney as something to be done in old age, something to be done when the old grey matter starts to cease up a bit. Yet a story a client told me today has really made me think and hopefully may alter my clients’ perception of these valuable documents.

During a conversation with my client over an estate planning issue, it came to light that her father’s is a ward of the court of protection who oversee any decisions and actions that need to be taken to manage his financial and property affairs. . At the age of 38 he was advised to go into hospital for some routine treatment that went tragically wrong.  He ended up with a complete loss of memory and an inability to communicate or walk. It was as if she had reverted to being a baby and had to relearn everything over again.

It might seem as if it was the least of his problems being unable to sign a cheque or sign a contract to sell the jointly owned house so they could move to a more suitable property – but without “mental capacity” the family’s problems were compounded whilst they waited for the Court of Protection to appoint a deputy to manage and make decisions around theirfather’s financial and property interests.

I wondered how I might be effected if ever I was in a similar situation. Just this month I have had to:
1. Sign planning aplication forms for our loft conversion
2. Write to highways to remove a street light bolted to our property
3. Pay numerous utility bills
4. Deposit a couple of cheques in the bank
5. Pay a cheque to my son’s school

…..and that’s all pretty run of the mill stuff, no investments to reassess or move around etc. So think what a headache it would be, if I had to rely on a deputy appointed by the Court of Protection all the time.

We never know what might be round corner and incase its not pleasant I’m making sure I have my Lasting Power of Attorney paperwork in place.

Find out more about the benefits of making a Lasting Power of Attorney through the Government Website and if you need more information please don’t hesitate to call us 0845 2501271.