What is Power of Attorney, and what are its Benefits?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you appoint someone to make decisions about your welfare, money or property. It can be used if you are not able to make your own decisions.
It allows you to appoint someone that you trust as an 'attorney' to make decisions on your behalf. Attorneys can make decisions for you when you no longer wish to or when you lack the mental capacity to do so.
What are the benefits of a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A LPA can help you plan how your health, wellbeing and financial affairs will be looked after. It allows you to say in advance:
- what decisions you want made if you lose capacity to make them yourself
- who you want to make these decisions
- how you want them to make these decisions
Having a LPA is a safe way of maintaining control over decisions made for you because:
- it has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used
- you choose someone to provide a 'certificate', which means they confirm that you understand the significance and purpose of what you're agreeing to
- you can choose who gets told about your Lasting Power of Attorney when it is registered (so they can raise concerns)
- your signature and the signatures of your chosen attorneys must be witnessed
- your attorney(s) must, by law, act in your best interests
The Office of the Public Guardian provides helpful support and advice about LPAs.
There are two different types of LPA, covering:
- health and welfare
- property and financial affairs
You can choose to have both of these, or just one.
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