Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
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A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is an important document that allows you to plan ahead and choose people who could take control of your affairs if you become unable or unwilling to manage them yourself.
You can only make an LPA if you have mental capacity and the ability to demonstrate that you understand the powers that are being given to your attorney(s). This is proved by the signature of the certificate provider.
There are two types of LPA:
You set up the power of attorney by completing a form which can be downloaded from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) or provided by your solicitor or legal adviser. Due to the powers being given and the responsibilities taken on, carefeesadvice.com would always recommend that you and your potential attorneys seek legal advice before signing an LPA.
Notification
As a precaution, when you complete your LPA form you are asked to give the details of up to five people who you would like the OPG to notify when your LPA is registered. These people do not need to do anything when they receive the notification, but it allows them to raise concerns with the OPG if they feel that what is being done may not be in your interest, or may not be what you would wish.
You do not have to notify anyone when you register your LPA, but if you choose not to, you will need to have two certificate providers.
Registration
Once your LPA has been registered your attorney’s can start to make decisions for you, whether you lack mental capacity or not. Your attorney’s should always do this with your agreement whilst you have capacity. You can include restrictions in the LPA to stop certain decisions being made by your attorney’s.
You may decide not to register the LPA until it is needed although the information on it will need to be kept up to date until it is registered. As a safeguard, when you make the LPA you can name up to five people you would like the OPG to inform when the LPA is registered. If it is registered against your will, these people will be able to object. If you decide not to register the LPA immediately and the information on the form becomes incorrect the LPA may be rejected by the OPG and, if you have lost capacity a new LPA could not then be made.
What Next?
Before considering the LPA further we suggest you have a read through the LPA forms and the guidance booklet. These links will open pages at the OPG website where you can download this information.
Please see our LPA timeline page for details of what to do and when to do it.
carefeesadvice.com has links with a number of solicitors and legal advisers who we can recommend. Please email us your address and we will put you in touch.
You may also like to read this article on Lasting Powers of Attorney written by solicitor Richard Patterson.
History Lesson
LPA’s were introduced by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to replace the previous Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). EPA’s were simple to set up but easy to abuse. For the majority of EPA’s there was no central register so the only record an EPA existed was the document itself. The document gave significant powers to the attorney and whilst most were carefully and honestly administered for the protection of the donor (the person making the EPA), there was significant opportunity for fraud.
Where do you want to go now?
LPA timeline - Setting up an LPA ~ what you need to do and when you need to do it
External Link - office of the public guardian
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