Lasting Power of Attorney – Solicitors in Gosforth Serving Newcastle upon Tyne, the North East and Nationally
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a vital document to have in place, given that they enable you to appoint another person(s) to act on your behalf and make decisions in the event that you were unable to manage your affairs. For example this can arise if you need a stay in hospital or if you require surgery. That will create problems with a bank or building society account, paying bills, collecting benefits or a pension, getting access to cash. That can arise at any age and if you have a young family you might then leave them with the expensive and time consuming alternative of applying to the Court of Protection. You might have difficulty with deteriorating mental capacity or the problem might suddenly arise. In any of these situation you will not be able to act or make decisions for yourself.
We obviously hope they will never be needed but without having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place (or an old style Enduring Power of Attorney) it is usually only possible for someone’s financial affairs to be looked after once a court order has been obtained and that would be very expensive.
At Birch & Co we have Specialist Solicitors who understand how difficult talking about such matters can be. As a result you can be sure we will deal with you in a sensitive and friendly manner, all the while ensuring a professional and efficient service is given. Please call us on 0191 284 5030 or complete a Free Online Enquiry and we will soon be in touch.
We are based in Gosforth with parking facilities as well as easy access to the Metro at Regent Centre and a bus stop outside the office although can act for family members located anywhere around the UK. We strongly recommend that you contact us before you start the estate administration so that we can help guide you further.
We can save you a lot of money and stress.
We have a 5 star rating on Google for the quality of our service and 99% of our clients are completely satisfied and would recommend Birch & Co to others. Please read some of our current clients’ Testimonials below of what they think of us. We hope that you feel the same way once we have looked after you.
There are two types of powers that you can make:
One is in relation to property and financial affairs, which gives your attorney(s) the ability to manage your finances, including making decisions about and operating your bank accounts, investments and any property you own.
The other is in relation to health and welfare, and gives your attorney(s) the power to make decisions about, for example, where you live, what medical treatment you are to receive, who is to take care of you.
As an individual, you can have just one Lasting Power of Attorney in place or you can have both – they are two separate documents and so you may appoint different attorneys for each matter if you wanted.
It really depends on what you consider to be appropriate for your situation.
It is a common request to “get a power of attorney” for someone else but this is not correct – the power can only be given to the Attorney. The person making the Lasting Power of Attorney document is therefore called the “donor”.
The Lasting Power of Attorney document(s) must be completed either by the donor or at their request, with a Certificate Provider also signing it to confirm that the donor fully understands the nature of the document and has not been forced into making it.
The Certificate Provider must therefore be completely independent of both the donor and any attorney, meaning they cannot be a member of their family OR be in a personal or business relationship with them OR associated with a care home where the donor lives.
As well as being signed by the donor and Certificate Provider, each attorney and replacement attorney must also sign the Lasting Power of Attorney to confirm they understand their duty to act is based on the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) AND they will only ever decisions and act in the best interests of the donor AND they will take into account any instructions or preferences included in the Lasting Power of Attorney by the donor.
The document can only be used by an attorney once it has been registered with the OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC GUARDIAN – a court based in Birmingham.
Registration is usually simply a paper exercise with the relevant documents sent in the post and returned duly stamped in the same way.
It is not always possible for an Lasting Power of Attorney document to be prepared, if for example, the would-be donor has a serious brain injury or illness, dementia or severe learning difficulties.
In these cases, it is necessary for those looking to make decisions on their behalf to apply for a court order authorising them to so do.