1. Estate Planning isn’t just about Wills, don’t forget your
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)!
Look upon an LPA as an insurance policy, you hope you’ll never need to use it, but
the consequences of not having one are a nightmare!
A Lasting Power of Attorney allows you to nominate someone to step into your shoes
and handle your affairs if you lose mental capacity. There are two LPAs, Property and
Affairs, and Health and Welfare. People are often unaware that if you don’t have one
in place before you lose mental capacity it can result in a lot aggravation and expense
for your relatives who will have to apply to the Office of the Public Guardian to act on
your behalf.
Why have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) ?
Today if an adult loses the ability to make their own decisions, all their financial
arrangements including bank accounts and investments, even those held
jointly are "frozen". Financial Institutions will quote the Incapacity Act, and deny
the spouse and family all access until they can produce Court of Protection authority
to act and sign on the incapacitated person's behalf. Until then no money!
♣ If you lose mental capacity through illness or an accident who will look after your
financial & personal welfare?
♣ Once you have lost mental capacity it is too late to write a Lasting Power of
Attorney (LPA), the courts will appoint somebody to run your affairs, this is costly
and will take time.
By taking action today you can offset all the stress and the expense of the
Court of Protection. Remember like a Will you need to arrange your Lasting
Power of Attorney (LPA) in advance.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document used to appoint another
person or persons to act on your behalf. There are two types of Lasting Power of
Attorney (LPA), one to cover your financial affairs, the other to cover your health.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Property gives your chosen Attorney's the right
to look after all your financial affairs. For example looking after your bank accounts,
paying utility bills, making investment decisions, or even selling your home.
Restrictions can be built into a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) limiting the scope
of the powers if required, but rest assured your Attorneys are fully accountable for
their actions.

2. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Health allows you to predetermine matters such
as care needs i.e. you would rather stay in your own home, or life sustaining drugs
etc, and takes the decision making away from somebody who possibly doesn't know
you.
To make either arrangement you (the donor) needs to have mental capacity, once lost
it is too late to act, forcing your family to make an expensive and long winded
application to the Court of Protection.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA's) need to be registered with the Court of
Protection to make them valid, this is currently taking up to 13 weeks due to the
realisation by many that this document is as vitally important as a Will.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) health can only be used once mental capacity is
lost, but a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) finance can be used once registered, so a
restriction can be included if desired making it valid only once you are incapable of
making decisions for yourself.
Put simply, more and more people are now looking to effect some element of control
over their lives, via someone they trust, at a time when they are unable to
communicate their own wishes. Before the existence of such instruments, if we
became incapacitated through old age, infirmity, or loss of capacity, we were largely
at the mercy of the State and of Institutions. With the creation of the Lasting Power
of Attorney (LPA) this no longer has to be the case, provided we act early enough.
Who to consider as an Attorney ?
More often than not our clients will appoint their children, as well as their spouse to
act as Attorneys circumventing the need to involve Social Services in the decision
making process. It is also highly appropriate to consider appointing close trusted
friends to act as Attorneys too.
We offer a unique low cost Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) service, and will be
happy to send you our free Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) information pack that
will help make a complicated subject considerably easier to comprehend.
A Living Will - an alternative to a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
health.
Why would you want to consider an alternative to an Lasting Power of Attorney
(LPA) health?
Two possible reasons:
♣ You feel that asking someone else to make medical decisions on your behalf, is
asking too much and is unfair.

3. ♣ Or, it might be cost, a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) costs more, and will most
likely incur a registration fee.
So what exactly is a Living Will? It's official name is an Advanced Directive (AD),
because you are making your wishes (directives) known in advance.
Every competent adult has a right to refuse treatment, or to state circumstances in
which they would not wish treatment to be offered to them. It is recognised that such
wishes can be formally recorded within an Advanced Directive. It is also worth noting
that Living Wills are now recognised in Law, and as such are binding upon the
medical profession, where previously they were not.
Things to Consider:
♣ An Advance Directive is effectively "written in stone", so if you do lose capacity it
cannot be changed. On the other hand, if you had chosen a Lasting Power of
Attorney (LPA) health your attorney could at least have a discussion with your
medical team, at which point they might arrive at a decision that you would have
been happy with.
♣ Under a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), the doctors can still overrule the
attorney(s)
♣ In other words neither is a perfect answer, and you must make your choice now,
based on your best instincts, and good advice from family and friends. If you can
avoid it, do not make the choice on cost alone, but rather on your instincts of what
feels right and best for you.
Are you exempt from paying the registration fees for your Lasting Power
of Attorney (LPA) ?
You do not have to pay any fees if you receive any of the following benefits:
♣ Income Support
♣ Income based Employment and Support Allowance
♣ Income-based Job-Seeker’s Allowance
♣ Pension Guarantee Credit element of State Pension Credit (you will not be eligible
if this is calculated as nil)
♣ A combination of Working Tax Credit and either Child Tax Credit Disability
Element Working Tax Credit or Severe Disability Element

4. ♣ Housing Benefit, or Council Tax Benefit (not including the 25% single person
reduction)
♣ Local Housing Allowance
You can request a fee exemption at the time you pay the fee. Your request must have
supporting evidence, such as an official letter or entitlement notice from the
appropriate benefit provider. It should be nomore than three months old, must
contain your title, full name, address and postcode. It must also confirm that you
currently receive the benefit.
If you don’t supply the right evidence you will have to pay the full fee.
Fee remission - Getting a partial discount.
Even if you don’t qualify for a fee exemption, it is still possible that you won’t have to
pay the full fee. Getting a discount on a fee is called ‘fee remission’.
Fee remission is based on annual income before tax and National Insurance are
deducted. State benefits, pensions, interest from any investments and non-means-
tested benefits (such as Disability Living Allowance) are also considered.
If your gross annual income is less than £12,000, you only need to pay 50% of the
application to register fee.