LASTING POWERS OF ATTORNEY    For your Property and Financial Affairs.  For your Health and Welfare

 A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that you (the Donor) make using a special form.  It allows you to choose someone NOW (the Attorney) that you trust to make decisions on your behalf about things such as your property and financial affairs or health and welfare (or both if you wish) at a time in the future when you no longer wish to make those decisions or you may lack the mental capacity to make those decisions yourself.   

Should you lose mental capacity, without having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, no one can help you and manage your affairs for you.  They do not have any authority.  The only option available to them is to apply to the Court of Protection for an Order that they be made your Deputy.  These applications are more expensive and take many months to progress before an Order is eventually granted.  These delays could mean your loved ones cannot manage your affairs in a way which is best for you.

Nor should you wait until you feel that need these document, you might not be aware that you could already be too late.  These documents should be made when you are fully aware of their benefits, and how they could help you in the future, should the need to use them become a reality.

We can advise you how you make a Lasting Power of Attorney, prepare all the forms for you, attend you as your Certificate Provider, liaise with your Attorneys in getting their signatures to the forms and submitting the completed document to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration. 

You should be aware that all Lasting Powers of Attorney require to be signed by a Certificate Provider.  The Certificate Providers role is to confirm that the person making the Lasting Power of Attorney understands fully what they are doing, has chosen their Attorneys themselves (is not being encouraged or pressurised by anyone) and fully understands the implications of the power they are granting to their Attorneys.   In acting for you, we automatically assume the  role of Certificate  Provider to ensure that you understand the nature of the documents you are signing, your choice of Attorneys etc.