Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

If you’re worried about losing the ability to manage your own affairs in the future, you may want to consider making a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). This means you appoint someone else to make decisions on your behalf if you lose mental capacity.

What is Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document in England and Wales that outlines who can make decisions about your health, wealth, property, or financial affairs.

You ('donor') will appoint a trusted person, or people, ('attorneys') who can make decisions on your behalf if you lack the mental capacity.

There are two types of LPA's, Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare.

The Health and Welfare LPA gives your attorney the power to make decisions about:

  • What medical care you receive
  • Whether or not you move into a nursing home, which one you go to, and what happens if you need to move to a different one
  • What life-sustaining treatment you’re given.

It can only be used when you’ve lost the capacity to make your own decisions. The Property and Financial Affairs LPA gives your attorney the power to:

  • Manage your bank accounts
  • Make investments on your behalf
  • Sell your home or manage your property.

It can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.

What is the role of an LPA?

The attorney's primary duty is to always act in your best interests. 

You can appoint different attorneys for specific areas. You can also provide them with detailed instructions and preferences to guide their decisions.

The attorney's role is to provide peace of mind by making well-informed, considered choices regarding matters such as:

  • Managing your finances: This includes overseeing bank accounts, investments, property, paying bills, and handling income and expenditures on your behalf.
  • Healthcare and medical treatment: Making decisions about the type of medical care, treatments, and support you receive, always in line with your expressed wishes and best interests.
  • Residential care arrangements: Deciding on suitable living arrangements, which may include selecting or moving into a care home or assisted living facility.
  • Business management: If you're a business owner, the LPA can grant your attorney the authority to manage or wind down your business operations as specified.

How to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney?

First, you will need to draft a document that lays out what your attorney can and can’t make decisions about. It’s vital to do this with a solicitor to make sure it’s valid. 

Once it’s finalised, you will need to sign it in the presence of a witness. Your certificate provider will then go through it with you to you understand what you are signing and are not under any undue influence. 

If you’re making an LPA through Irwin Mitchell we’d act as your certificate provider. 

The LPA will then have to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your family or friends may need to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, which can be costly and time-consuming.

If they don’t, the Court of Protection will appoint a deputy, with the same powers and responsibilities as an attorney. It usually prefers to appoint a friend or relative (as long as it’s in your best interests) rather than a stranger. Where there are disagreements in the family, the court will sometimes appoint an independent panel deputy (like often a solicitor). This may add legal costs for the family or estate to cover.

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