Who looks after YOU?            

Vital - LASTING POWERS OF ATTORNEY (LPAs)
(Scottish Law is different, but this still makes useful background reading) - and why everyone over 18 should have two.

Everyone cheerfully assumes that someone else will be able to look after their healthcare and financial affairs if they become too ill to do so.  Car accident, serious illness, sheer old age can all take away your mental capability to deal with such matters  instantly.

The bad news is that no one - not your husband, wife or parents - has that authority (if you are over 18) and an application to Court and ongoing Court supervision (at cost) is the alternative to sound Legal Planning.

WHAT IS A LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY?  (LPA)

An LPA Property and Affairs allows one (or more) people to manage another person's financial affairs. They are typically used to help in case of mental incapacity due to accident, illness or old age. However they can be advance registered so it can be used at any time for example, if someone leaves the country and important matters may need attending to.

An LPA Personal Welfare appoints others to deal with Welfare issues but ONLY if you become incapable of doing so, and the LPA has been registered.  Such issues may include where you live, how you dress, who is allowed to see you, what you eat, your medical treatment etc etc.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE?
If you become unable to manage your own affairs, the Court of Protection will have to be asked to appoint a Deputy to manage them for you. The legal expenses will be paid from your assets, and clearly the Deputy may have no knowledge or understanding of your family and personal circumstances. If a family member is appointed, it may not be the one you would have chosen.

This will be even more of a problem if you are UNMARRIED or in the process of divorce and expect the Deputy to look after your partner. If you appoint your own Attorney (or Attorneys), you can appoint people you know and trust. With our Professional Maintenance Service, you will be reminded to update your brief for your Attorney each year if your circumstances have changed.
If you have a partner you would like to be able to look after things for you (and vice versa), you each need an LPA (two, in fact). Further information on protecting children appears in a later chapter.

WHO SHOULD I APPOINT AS MY ATTORNEY?
Firstly, it is possible to appoint more than one Attorney (vital, really): these Attorneys can act either JOINTLY or JOINTLY and SEVERALLY. Say you have your three adult children as attorneys, if they are appointed JOINTLY, all of them must agree to every decision and they must act TOGETHER. If they are appointed JOINTLY and SEVERALLY, this means any of them can act by themselves. In most cases Jointly and Severally is likely to be appropriate, but Jointly can be very useful if your Attorneys are inexperienced in financial matters or not ideal choices!

It should be borne in mind that where Attorneys are appointed to act jointly (as distinct from "joint and severally") if one of the joint attorneys should die, or be unable to act, the Lasting Power of Attorney would become ineffective.   This is NOT the case with a joint and several appointments as the power of the remaining attorney is still valid.

We generally recommend your partner plus an older child or other appropriate, reliable and trustworthy person.

You can have different Attorneys for Finance and Welfare issues, and you can even appoint different ones to do different things.

Your choice of Attorney will need to be reviewed from time to time as circumstances change.

This is where www.WillCustodian.co.uk service helps, as it will not only advise you of any changes in the Law, but also remind you to re-consider your Legal Planning once a year.