Legal Briefing

SOLICITOR JULIET PHILLIPS - JAMES CASTS HER EXPERT EYE OVER A RANGE OF LEGAL MATTERS AND URGES ANYONE WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS TO COME FORWARD FOR HELP.

Q AIt has been suggested I may wish to enter into a Lasting Power of Attorney document now that I am getting older but what is a lasting power of attorney? A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document in which someone (the donor) gives another person or persons (the attorney) the right to help them make decisions or take decisions/ act on their behalf when the Donor gives them consent, but also covers the eventuality of later in life if the Donor was to lose capacity. These documents are invaluable and covers mental and physical capacity

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney - Health and welfare lasting power of attorney and Power of Attorney. Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about things such as your daily routine, for example washing, dressing, eating. medical care. moving into a care home. life-sustaining treatment. The Property and financial affairs application will allow the attorney to make decisions about things like: money, tax and bills, bank and building society accounts, property and investments pensions and benefits. You can use the donor’s money to look after their home and buy anything they need day to day (for example, food). Everyone would benefit from having these documents in place. They are usually associated with the elderly but these are instrumental to everyone irrelevant of their circumstances. They are particularly beneficial for sole traders, business owners in the event that they were unwell, in hospital, abroad that someone could step in and run the business on their behalf. With people having to self isolate recently, these documents were extremely beneficial for those who were dependant on others For further information, please do not hesitate to contact Gomer Williams