Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors Blackpool
A Lasting Power of Attorney allows you to appoint one or more persons (known as attorneys) to help you make decisions or to make a decision on your behalf in relation to Property and Financial Affairs and also Health and Welfare.
Usually when there is a family the Lasting Power of Attorney is there to protect against the problems of old age, people choose their spouse and one child. For business people or single people different considerations apply.
A Lasting Power of Attorney unlike an ordinary Power of Attorney is not nullified by the subsequent mental incapacity of the donor. If there is no Lasting Power of Attorney in place then the property and affairs of an incapable person must be administered by the Court of Protection, this is a more expensive and cumbersome process, and can be distressing for people at what is often a very difficult time. Any of us could become mentally incapable, perhaps suddenly as a result of an accident, and the making of a Will may provide a good opportunity for you to consider also the making of a Lasting Power of Attorney.
There are two different types of Lasting Power of Attorneys: -
- Property and Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney is for decisions about finances such as selling your house or managing your bank account.
- Personal Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney is for decisions about both health and personal welfare such as where to live, day to day care or having medical treatment.
Your attorneys will make decisions as if they were you. They must however act in your best interest and have regard to a code of practice. A Lasting Power of Attorney must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. An unregistered Lasting Power of Attorney will not give the attorney any legal powers to make a decision for you. You can register the Lasting Power of Attorney while you have capacity or the attorney can apply to register the Lasting Power of Attorney at any time.
The court fee for registering each part of the Lasting Power of Attorney is £82.00 and thus for both Lasting Power of Attorney for property and financial affairs and for health and welfare the total cost of the court fees will be £164.00. Our fees for completing the Lasting Power of Attorney documentation and if required seeing to all the procedural and registration formalities are £495.00 plus VAT.
We can assist you in making application to the Office of the Public Guardian to put in place provisions for appointing an Attorney, attending to the full application and registration.
Please telephone Joanne Flynn on 01253 626793 for further information or to arrange an appointment to discuss this in more detail.
