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COMMENT
No one knows what
the
future
holds…
…and that’s why it is important to be prepared.
By Jacqueline Emmerson
he importance of a Will is
generally understood and
carried out in conjunction with
life changes including marriage,
the birth of children or the
death of a loved one or
beneciary - but not many know what
would happen if they were no longer able
to manage own aairs due to ill health.
This could be either a physical or mental
impairment.
It is often assumed that if you’re
married or in a civil partnership, that your
spouse would be able to take ownership
of your care or personal nances in such
situations, this is not always the case.
Arranging a Lasting Power of Attorney
allows a person who you trust and have
appointed as an attorney to make
decisions on your behalf. It is important to
understand that there are two types of
LPAs. One is to deal with the
management of your nances specically
and the second LPA deals with your
personal welfare. A personal welfare LPA
allows your attorney to make important
decisions such as where you should live,
your medical care, who you should have
contact with as well as serious medical
intervention and do-not-resuscitate
decisions.
A nancial LPA would allow your
attorney to sell your home, manage your
bank accounts, make sure that you
receive all benets to which you are
entitled, make arrangements for payment
of care home fees or alternatively it may
help you to maintain your own home,
including paying bills and for any care at
home.
There are several reasons why you
might need someone to make decisions
for you or act on your behalf. This could
even extend to temporary situations, for
example, if you are in hospital and need
help with everyday tasks such as paying
bills.
A person may not have mental
capacity because of a problem with the
way their brain functions, for example,
following a stroke or because they have a
condition such as dementia. Other
situations including having lost physical
capacity or speech aected by Parkinson’s
t
ISSUE 10 : AUTUMN 2020
disease, resulting in not being able to deal
with banks or being able to communicate
via the telephone.
As people continue to live longer, the
chances of developing age-related
illnesses have sadly increased. For
instance, The Alzhemier’s Society has
reported that in people over the age of 65
the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease
or vascular dementia doubles roughly
every 5 years. It is estimated that
dementia aects one in 14 people over 65
and one in six over 80.
Failure to create a Lasting Power of
Attorney could lead to you having no say
in who the court appoints as your deputy
or any inuence over what amount of
power will be granted to them.
This type of scenario could also lead to
a deputy’s application, the person who
you would like to take responsibility for
your care and nances and possibly the
only person who you would trust, being
refused – resulting in the council being
appointed instead. Families also must pay
extra to apply for and maintain
deputyship and you may not be able to
sell jointly held assets until the Court of
Protection appoints a deputy.
The Court of Protection route is
expensive when considering the court
fees, mandatory annual insurance
premiums and the intrusive, timeconsuming procedures involved which
burden the Deputy who selessly only
wishes to help you.
In summary, if plans are not put in
place the process can be stressful and
expensive without the ability to reach the
preferred resolution.
The appointed person, known as the
‘Deputy’, will have to prove they are a
‘Suitable Person’ and are able to comply
with the Court of Protection’s strict,
burdensome rules. If a suitable Deputy
cannot be found, you will be referred to
the local authority. In comparison to an
appointed Attorney and trusted family
member or loved one, the strapped-forcash local authority may not have the
resources or emotional attachment to
ensure your assets are dealt with in the
most benecial way; they need your
house sold quickly to realise as much
money as possible.
At Emmersons Solicitors, we are
experts in Lasting Power of Attorney and
our team are all trained as Dementia
Friends. They understand how stressful
things can be and you will nd them to be
very supportive and helpful. We are also
members of Solicitors for the Elderly,
meaning we have the expertise that you
need to assist with all issues related to the
making of Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Emmersons Solicitors were recently
awarded the prestigious ‘Small Law Firm
of The Year’ Award by The Law Society
Excellence Awards 2020. This industry
award celebrates outstanding success of a
small selection of the best of 9,000 rms
and 190,000 solicitors in England and
Wales.
For more information please visit
www.emmersons-solicitors.co.uk or call
0191 567 6667
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