Our Advice Column: Power of Attorney

A friend has suddenly fallen ill, which has made me think about getting my affairs in order. I’ve heard of setting up a lasting power of attorney, but I don’t really know where to begin, or if I really need to, as I’m not very old.

‍

The first thing to know is that anyone can make a lasting power of attorney; it's not something purely for older people to consider. 

Appointing a lasting power of attorney (LPA) means nominating someone such as a trusted friend or relative to act on your behalf and manage your finances, care or medical treatment, if you ever lose mental capacity. This could be because you're diagnosed with a health condition that prevents you from doing so, or something happens to you, such as an accident. 

The kinds of illness which might prevent you from making decisions for yourself include: dementia, mental health problems, a brain injury, alcohol or drug misuse or the side-effects of medical treatment. Setting up an LPA doesn’t mean you’re expecting anything to happen, it’s something you might want to do in case something happens in the future. 

There are two types of LPA, property and financial affairs and health and welfare. You don't have to make both types at the same time but you must make an LPA while you are still capable of making decisions for yourself. This is called having mental capacity. Both types must be registered before they can be used and you should choose who manages your affairs for you, if you’re no longer able to, very carefully.

A property and financial affairs LPA gives someone the authority to deal with and make decisions about things like buying or selling property, bank, building society and other financial accounts, welfare benefits and debts. You can give someone power of attorney to deal with all of those affairs, or only certain things. If you want to make an LPA which only deals with certain matters, you should make sure that it’s drawn up very carefully.

A health and welfare LPA gives someone the authority to deal with and make decisions about things like where you live, your day-to-day care, and your healthcare treatment - either for all aspects of your personal welfare, or only certain things. It's not possible to use a health and welfare LPA until the person who made it has lost their mental capacity. 

There are two ways you can make an LPA - either online at gov.uk or by downloading the forms from gov.uk. There is one form for property and affairs and one for health and welfare. If you want someone to look after both aspects, you’ll need two separate LPAs.

Once completed, you’ll need to register the LPA by sending the forms to the Office of the Public Guardian. If you need to pay a registration fee, you'll need to send that too.

If the form has been correctly completed and there are no objections after people have been notified, the Public Guardian must register it. This can take around 20 weeks. 

The Public Guardian must notify you and your attorneys that they have registered the LPA, and it can then be used. You can find lots of information on LPAs and other shorter term power of attorneys by visiting the Citizens Advice website.