A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone you trust as an ‘attorney’ to make decisions on your behalf.

It can be drawn up at any time while you have capacity, but has no legal standing until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

A registered LPA can be used at any time, whether you have the mental ability to act for yourself or not.

You can create two types of LPA:

• Property and Affairs LPA
• Personal Welfare LPA

Property and Affairs LPA
A Property and Affairs LPA allows you to choose someone to make decisions about how to spend your money and the way your property and affairs are managed.

Personal Welfare LPA
A Personal Welfare LPA allows you to choose someone to make decisions about your healthcare and welfare. This includes decisions to refuse or consent to treatment on your behalf and deciding where you live. These decisions can only be taken on your behalf when the LPA is registered  and you lack the capacity to make the decisions yourself.

How many people should you appoint and who?

You may not be able to check up on the attorney yourself if you become incapable, so it may be a good idea to appoint more than one person to help prevent abuse of the responsibility. Choose people you can trust to act in your best interests. You should consider how well they look after their own financial affairs and whether you can trust them to use your money to meet your needs.

Woolliscrofts willl help you to set up an Lasting Power Of Attorney