Henley and Marlow Lifestyle Sep - Oct 2021

ADVERTISING FEATURE
Thinking about Lasting Powers
of Attorney?
B P Collins clears up the most common areas for confusion
when appointing someone...
It can be daunting to think about your
future, but it is prudent to plan ahead
and think about who could look after
your affairs if you lose the capacity to
do so. One way of doing this is through
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA), which
are important documents that can confer
considerable powers to your attorneys.
LPAs for health and welfare can cover
decisions, after you have lost mental
capacity, ranging from where you might
live and your daily routine through to life
sustaining treatment decisions. LPAs for
property and finances can cover a wide
range of financial decisions, such as
managing your bank accounts or selling
your home.
Although it is possible to draft LPAs
yourself, given the significance of the
documents, it is important to get them
right. A lawyer can help guide you
through the process and make sure
that the finished document does what
you intended. B P Collins’ private
client team can assist with the making
and registration of LPAs, including the
following common areas for confusion:
1) HOW TO APPOINT ATTORNEYS
An LPA can appoint both primary and
replacement attorneys. Where the LPA
appoints more than one attorney to act
at the same time, a decision needs to be
made about how they are to act: either
jointly or jointly and severally.
A lawyer should discuss the options and
explain the implications for each type
of appointment to make sure that your
wishes translate into the document.
2) PREFERENCE AND INSTRUCTIONS
LPAs can include preferences, which are
non-binding wishes, and instructions,
which are binding on attorneys. A lawyer
can advise on any specific instructions
that need to be included for your
individual circumstances. It is important
to be careful when drafting preferences
and instructions as overly complicated
or poorly drafted preferences and
instructions can make the LPA difficult
to use.
3) SIGNING
LPAs must be registered before they
can be used, and registration takes
around 15 weeks. However, LPAs have
to be signed in a specific order. If they
are not signed in the correct order, they
can be rejected from registration by
the Office of the Public Guardian. The
error would then need to be corrected,
which may cause significant delay to the
registration process. This could have a
serious impact if the person making the
LPA is losing their mental capacity. A
lawyer can ensure that the document is
correctly signed before submission to
the Office of the Public Guardian to make
the registration process as smooth as
possible.
4) CERTIFICATE PROVIDER
A certificate provider is required to
sign the LPA to confirm that the person
making it understands what they are
doing and that no one is forcing them
to do it. While you do not have to use a
professional as a certificate provider, B P
Collins has the knowledge of the correct
legal test for mental capacity, which
can help to demonstrate that the LPA
has been correctly completed. We can
also identify situations where a medical
professional would be best placed to act.
5) BUSINESS LPAS
It is possible to make more than one
LPA for property and finances. This
is particularly useful for dealing with
businesses. A lawyer can advise whether
a business LPA is needed, and at B P
Collins, we can liaise with our corporate
team to make sure that your business
can continue to flourish if you lose mental
capacity.
If you would like to make an LPA, please
contact the private client team for
more information on 01753 889995 or
enquiries@bpcollins.co.uk.
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