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A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘Donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf. It is a simple way for you to choose someone you trust to make decisions for you.
There are a number of reasons why you might need someone to make decisions for you or act on your behalf:
- This could just be a temporary situation: for example, if you’re in hospital and need help with everyday tasks such as paying bills.
- A stroke, a heart attack, Alzheimer’s disease or a severe accident can leave us dependent upon other people to help make crucial choices in our lives.
- You may need to make longer-term plans if, for example, you have been diagnosed with dementia and you may lose the mental capacity to make your own decisions in the future.
There are two types of LPA:
LPA for Financial Decisions
An LPA for financial decisions can be used while you still have mental capacity or you can state that you only want it to come into force if you lose capacity.
An LPA for financial decisions can cover things such as:
- buying and selling property
- paying the mortgage
- investing money
- paying bills
- arranging repairs to property.
You can restrict the types of decisions your attorney can make, or let them make all decisions on your behalf.
Health & Welfare LPA
This covers health and care decisions and can only be used once you have lost mental capacity. An attorney can generally make decisions about things such as:
- where you should live
- your medical care
- what you should eat
- who you should have contact with
- what kind of social activities you should take part in.
You can also give special permission for your attorney to make decisions about life-saving treatment.
PLEASE NOTE:
If you’re married or in a civil partnership, you may have assumed that your spouse would automatically be able to deal with your bank account and pensions, and make decisions about your healthcare, if you lose the ability to do so. This is not the case. Without an LPA, they won’t have the authority.
- where you should live
- your medical care
- what you should eat
- who you should have contact with
- what kind of social activities you should take part in.
You can also give special permission for your attorney to make decisions about life-saving treatment.
What could happen if I don’t create an LPA?
If you lose mental capacity, through illness or injury, and haven’t created an LPA:
- you’ll no longer be able to decide who makes decisions for you (you can only make your LPA while you still have mental capacity)
- people you don’t know could end up making crucial decisions for you instead – such as whether to accept medical treatment to keep you alive, or about what you eat and wear and where you live
- your family or friends might have to go to court to make decisions on your behalf – which can be a lot more expensive and time-consuming than making an LPA
If you still have mental capacity, LPAs are a simple and legally robust way of giving someone you trust power to make decisions for you – temporarily or for a longer time.