What is Lasting Power of Attorney?
If you are able to make decisions for yourself at the moment, but are concerned that you may lack the ability in the future, you can grant someone ‘Lasting Power of Attorney’ or LPA.
This is useful if, for example, you have bipolar disorder and you are concerned that when you become unwell you might go on a spending spree and spend more than you can afford.
Having an LPA in place means that if you lose the ability to make decisions your carer, friend or relative would have the authority to act on your behalf. You would be called the ‘donor’ and the person you are giving the authority to is called an ‘attorney’.
LPAs have replaced the ‘Enduring Power of Attorney’ (EPA). If you already had EPA, this will still be valid but it must be registered by the ‘attorney’ with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) when they think you are beginning to become unwell or already lack capacity to manage your own finances.
LPA's have replaced the ‘Enduring Power of Attorney’ (EPA). If you already had EPA, this will still be valid but it must be registered.
To register an EPA you need to fill in form EP2PG which you can download from the Government website or you can call the Office of the Public Guardian on 0300 456 0300 and ask them to post you a copy.
Register an LPA
If you have the capacity to make decisions then you can cancel the old EPA and register a new LPA.
If you want to make someone your ‘attorney’, they must be at least 18 years old and they can not be bankrupt.
If you want to grant an LPA, you have to fill in forms. These forms can be found on the Government website and you can also fill them in online.
You can specify
You can make an LPA to give someone the right to deal with your financial affairs either when you lose capacity, or to make decisions while you currently have capacity and when you lose it.
You can specify which decisions you want them to make and also give guidance for them to follow when trying to work out what would be in your best interests.
Once completed the LPA has to be registered. This is also done through the Office of the Public Guardian. There is a fee of £82 to pay in order to register an LPA. Either you or your attorney can register the LPA.
If the person who is registering the LPA is claiming certain benefits, is on a low income or paying the fee would cause hardship then they may be exempt or only have to pay part of the fee. You can find more information about the fees by downloading the following Government leaflet.
