A Lasting Power of Attorney lets someone you trust make decisions for you if you become unable to make them yourself. There are two types, one for your money and property, one for your health and care. You can only set one up while you still have mental capacity, so it has to be done before you need it.
Most people come to me for a will. They tend to leave thinking about a Lasting Power of Attorney as well, and often they wish they had asked about it sooner. A will decides what happens after you die. A Lasting Power of Attorney decides what happens if you are still very much alive but no longer able to manage your own affairs. Different job entirely, and in some ways the more pressing of the two.
I have written a fair number of these over the years. Let me explain what a Lasting Power of Attorney actually is, the two forms it takes, and why I now raise it with people well before they reach the age most of us associate with it.
What a Lasting Power of Attorney is
A Lasting Power of Attorney, or LPA, is a legal document. In it you appoint one or more people you trust, called your attorneys, to make decisions on your behalf if a time comes when you cannot make them yourself. That might be through a serious illness, an injury, or a condition such as dementia that takes away your capacity gradually.
The important thing to grasp is the timing. You can only make an LPA while you still have mental capacity, which means while you still understand what you are signing and why. Once capacity has gone, the door is shut. Nobody can make one for you at that point, not your husband or wife, not your children, nobody. It is one of those documents that only works if it is already in the drawer before the day you need it.
You can read more about how we set these up on our Lasting Power of Attorney page. Here I want to cover the ground people ask about most.
The two types of LPA
There are two separate documents, and they cover very different parts of your life. Most people who come to me end up putting both in place, though you can have one without the other if you prefer.
Property and Financial Affairs
This one covers the money side. Your attorney can deal with your bank accounts, pay your bills, manage your pension, collect income, and if it comes to it, sell your house. You can allow it to be used as soon as it is registered, with your agreement, or only if you lose capacity. I usually talk people through which of those suits their situation.
Health and Welfare
This one is about you rather than your money. It lets your attorney make decisions about your medical treatment, the care you receive and where you live. It can only ever be used once you have lost the capacity to make those decisions for yourself. For many people this is the harder document to think about, because it deals with the parts of life we would all rather not picture. It is also, in my experience, the one families are most grateful for later.
Why age 40, not 80
When I mention an LPA to someone in their forties, the usual response is that they will sort it out when they are older. I understand the thinking, but it rests on a mistake. An LPA is not really about age. It is about capacity, and capacity can go at any age.
A stroke does not check your date of birth. Nor does a car accident, a bad fall, or one of the early-onset illnesses that arrive decades before anyone expects them. I have seen capacity lost by people in their thirties and forties, and in every case the family was left wishing the paperwork had been done while there was still time.
Here is the way I put it. A will protects your family after you have gone. A Lasting Power of Attorney protects you while you are still here. If you are old enough to have a mortgage, a family or a business depending on you, you are old enough to have an LPA. That is why I no longer treat it as something for the elderly.
A will protects your family after you have gone. A Lasting Power of Attorney protects you while you are still here. Capacity does not wait until you are old to leave.
What happens without one
This is the part people find hard to believe. If you lose capacity without an LPA in place, your family cannot simply step in and take over. Being a spouse, or being named as next of kin, gives them no automatic authority over your money or your care. The bank will not let them touch your account. The pension will not answer to them.
Instead they have to apply to a body called the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy. It can be done, but it is slower, more expensive and a good deal more intrusive than an LPA, and the whole time it is going through, your affairs sit in limbo. I have written more about that comparison in LPA vs deputyship, and it is well worth a read if you want to see the difference laid out side by side.
A gentleman came to see me a couple of years ago about his father, who had gone into hospital after a stroke and never really came back to himself. There was no LPA. The family spent months and a fair sum of money going through the court just to gain the authority to pay the man's own care home bills from his own savings. His son said to me that his father would have been mortified to know how much fuss it caused, when a form signed years earlier would have settled the whole thing. That conversation stays with me.
How you set one up
Setting up an LPA is not difficult, but it does need doing properly, because a document that is filled in wrongly can be rejected and leave you no better off. You choose your attorneys, decide how they should act, and the LPA is then registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, which is the government body that oversees them. It cannot be used until that registration is complete, and registration currently costs £92 for each document, paid to the Public Guardian.
My job is to make sure the whole thing reflects what you actually want, that the right people are named, and that it is drawn up so it will not be turned away when it matters most. I sit down with you, talk it through in plain terms, and handle the paperwork so you do not have to wrestle with it yourself.
How much an LPA costs
At Choice Wills a Lasting Power of Attorney is £285 per document. If you want both the property and the health documents, which most people do, we can do the pair together for £525 for one person, agreed as a fixed fee before I start any work. For a couple wanting all four documents the fee is £1,050.
On top of my fee there is the registration fee I mentioned, £92 per document, which goes to the Office of the Public Guardian rather than to me. If you are on a low income or receiving certain benefits, that government fee can be reduced or waived, and I will point you to it where it applies. As with everything I do, the first conversation is free and there is no charge for finding out where you stand.
Worth doing while you can
An LPA is one of those quiet, sensible arrangements that costs very little worry to set up and saves an enormous amount later. The only real mistake is to leave it until you need it, because by then it is too late to make one. If you have a will but no LPA, you have looked after your family for after you are gone but not while you are still here.
If you would like to talk it through, do get in touch. I see people in their own homes across Northamptonshire, or over a video call anywhere in England and Wales, and I am happy to explain the whole thing with no obligation to go ahead.
Common questions
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the mental capacity to make them yourself. You can only set one up while you still have capacity, so it has to be done in advance.
What are the two types of LPA?
There are two. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA covers money, bank accounts, bills, pensions and property. A Health and Welfare LPA covers care, medical treatment and where you live. They are separate documents and most people set up both.
Why do I need an LPA if I'm healthy?
Because a stroke, an accident or an early-onset illness can take away capacity at any age, not only in old age. An LPA can only be made while you still have capacity, so once you actually need one it is already too late to put it in place.
Can my family manage my affairs without an LPA?
No. Being a spouse or next of kin does not give anyone the automatic right to manage your money or make decisions for you. Without an LPA your family would have to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy, which is slower and more expensive.
How much does an LPA cost?
At Choice Wills an LPA is £285 per document, or £525 for both types together for one person. On top of that the Office of the Public Guardian charges a registration fee of £92 for each LPA. Fees can be reduced or waived for those on a low income.