The importance of a Lasting Power of Attorney cannot be underestimated for your peace of mind and that of your loved ones. Powers of Attorney are now considered by many as being equally as important as a Will.

Lasting Power of Attorney is an official document prepared for you while you are of sound mind. Although you have appointed people you trust to look after your affairs within the Lasting Power of Attorney document, you stay in control of everything until it is registered. Lasting Power of Attorneys are often left too late, and you cannot make a Lasting Power of Attorney if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself

Property & Finance

If you no longer have the mental capacity to look after your own financial affairs and you do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney, the Court of Protection will appoint a Deputy to manage your affairs for you.

There may be significant legal fees to pay, annual supervision fees of around £800 per year, plus application fees, doctor’s certification fees, a security bond, a deputy fee - all of these regularly taking the actual total annual fee into the thousands. Typically, the first-year costs for appointing a deputy are more than £3500. Often there may be a long delay before the Deputy Order is issued, and the Deputy will not always be aware of your personal circumstances.

This could apply to anyone, at any age, by reason of illness, disability, mental impairment, or accident who may no longer be able to deal with even simple matters, like handling a bank or building society account, claiming benefits, handling tax affairs or utility bills, or transacting a house sale. Did you know that even a joint building society or bank account may be frozen if ONE of the account holders lacks mental capacity and there is no Lasting Power of Attorney in place? This may leave your family members unable to access any of your accounts, as once the Office of the Public Guardian steps in, even the signatory on a joint bank account may not access it without a valid Lasting Power of Attorney in place.

Your Lasting Power of Attorney will offer peace of mind for you and your family. If your Lasting Power of Attorney is not registered immediately, then trusted members of your family MUST know where to locate the original document to register it at the Office of the Public Guardian if it is needed in the future. Why Sanctuary Tax & Trust Services? Alternatively, we can register the document on your behalf.

Health & Welfare

An LPA relating to Health and Welfare is a legal document that allows your attorney(s) to make welfare and health care decisions on your behalf, only when you lack mental capacity to do so yourself. This can extend, if you wish, to authorising them to give or refuse consent to the continuation of life sustaining treatment.

An LPA is a very important document which allows you to plan in advance:

• The decisions you want to be made on your behalf if/when you lose capacity to make them yourself.

• The people you have selected to make these decisions

• Any considerations for your attorneys when making decisions on your behalf.

A registered health and welfare LPA lets the people you choose make decisions about, for example:

• Giving or refusing consent to particular types of health care, including medical treatment decisions. These decisions can range from simple matters about everyday healthcare through to significant issues.

• You wishing to stay in your own home, perhaps with help and support from social services.

• You moving into residential housing and choosing the right care home for you.

• Day-to-day issues like your diet, dress, or daily routine and deciding who may have contact with you.

By choosing who you want to make decisions for you, having an LPA puts you in control of decisions eventually being made on your behalf.

Once a Health and Welfare LPA has been registered, your attorneys can only make decisions for you when you lack mental capacity to make the decisions yourself. If the document is not correctly completed and then registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, your family and loved ones, the people who know you best, are unable to ensure that the decisions made on your behalf reflect your individual beliefs and wishes.

Instead, these decisions will be made by social services and in most cases, this is somebody you may never have met.

Why Sanctuary Tax & Trust Services?

With over 20 years of experience in Estate and Inheritance planning we have helped families in the area protect their assets and plan their inheritance in the most cost-effective way. While the individual family’s circumstance may vary, the one constant is that each family aims to provide the maximum amount of inheritance possible without the stress of complex legal jargon.