Lasting Power of Attorney
Someone that you love has become unable to make decisions for themselves…
Who makes the decisions?
You have been granted Lasting Power of Attorney but only for welfare and not property and financial affairs…
What happens now?
If you are married or in a civil partnership, you may have assumed that your spouse or partner would automatically be able to deal with your bank accounts and pensions, and make decisions about your health and care if you lose the ability to do so (called mental capacity). This is not the case.
If you lose the capacity to make your own decisions and you don’t have a valid lasting power of attorney, an application to the Court of Protection will have to be made to have a deputy appointed.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you to give someone you trust the legal power to make decisions on your behalf in case you later become unable to make decisions for yourself. (They are referred to as your attorney(s)).
