Sep 18 17

Are You In The 5% Prepared For The Future?

Roger Wastnedge

Whenever we spot a new wrinkle or grey hair, we often pause for a moment and consider how the years are rolling by. Most of us at some point will also worry about how our health might deteriorate in our later years.

In a recent study by Irwin Mitchell, 75% of respondents said they worried about getting older and 70% were specifically concerned about developing dementia. Surprisingly, despite these worries, only 5% had made plans to deal with such an eventuality.

When someone develops an illness such as dementia, or is involved in an accident that takes away their capacity to make decisions for themselves, someone else needs to make decisions for them. But nobody has the automatic right to do so. Neither your partner nor your children nor your closest friends and relatives can, unless you have specifically given them permission in advance in the form of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

There are two types of LPA; one for Property & Financial Affairs, and the other covers Health & Welfare. They are both equally important and you should consider putting both in place to cover all eventualities.

An LPA can only be made while you have the mental capacity to do so. If you lose capacity to make your own decisions and there is no LPA in place, your loved ones will need to apply to the Court of Protection to appoint a deputy to make your decisions for you. They can apply to be appointed as your deputy, but it will be the court that makes this decision rather than you.

It costs £82 to register an LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian.

On the other hand, the costs for setting up a deputy via the Court of Protection are more expensive. The application fee is £400 for each type of deputyship: health/welfare and property/financial affairs. An appeal, if required, is another £400 and if the court decides a hearing is required, that’s a further £500. In addition, there is an assessment fee of £100 for new deputies and an annual supervision fee.

No-one likes to consider what may befall them in the future. It’s a much easier job to plan for though if done in advance. The financial and emotional cost for your family to deal with it after the event can be significant. Perhaps most importantly of all, LPAs allow the individual concerned to document their wishes around what happens to them at a later date and decide who will make those decisions on their behalf. Would you prefer decisions about your finances and welfare to be taken by a professional who is unknown to you and your family, or by someone who knows and loves you and has your best interests at heart?

For help preparing an LPA, please call Roger on 0151 559 0695 or email via the Contact Form on this page.

Jan 18 17

Old Heads on Young Shoulders

Roger Wastnedge

Thinking about Lasting Power of Attorneys (LPAs) is not just something older people need to do – everyone should write one, in my opinion

Let’s be honest, writing a will and an LPA isn’t top of anyone’s to do list – it isn’t even at the bottom. But it’s important, not just so that someone will have your best interests at heart should you fall ill or be in an accident, but also so thT your loved ones know who should be making the big decisions if you’re not able to. If you’ve lost your mental capacity, it’s too late and your loved ones may struggle to gain control of your affairs.

It’s a grim truth that accidents can happen at any age, which is why putting together an LPA is something young people should consider, as well as old, including the four in ten Britons who feel they’re too young and healthy to need an LPA, identified in recent research by SAGA.

So what is an LPA?

It’s a way of giving legal authority to someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf should you lack the mental capacity to make them yourself. That could be a temporary loss of mental capacity – or permanent.

There are two types of LPA – one for health and care decisions and the other for financial. Under the former, your chosen attorney can make decisions about your medical care and where you live, whilst under the latter the choices will be around buying and selling property as well as paying bills. They have to be set up individually and registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, at a cost of £110 each. If only one is relevant, then only set up one – for young people the health and care decisions of an LPA is possibly more relevant in case of sudden illness or accident; however that will also depend on your particular financial arrangements.

You can find all the information you need as well as the LPA forms to download at www.gov.uk. However, lots of people use solicitors and will writers to help navigate them as they are legally binding documents and certain wishes may have to be drafted carefully – for example, you may want to limit what your attorneys can do, which isn’t uncommon.

Here we have been helping people write LPAs since we started in 2012. Call us now on 0151 559 0695 for advice to ensure that, should you become incapacitated, your life is in the good hands of people you love and trust.

Sep 13 16

Power of Attorney Essential if you have Drawdown Pension

Roger Wastnedge

If you have a draw-down pension – that is a pension pot that you draw from as opposed to an annuity – then it is essential that you consider setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). The point about a draw-down pension is that it requires ongoing management until you die. For most people who are now retired it is likely that at some point they will be in a position where they are unable to do so on either a temporary or permanent basis. This means that, without the appointment of an attorney, they will be unable to instruct their adviser on making any alterations to their draw-down arrangements, with potentially devastating impact on the financial situation of themselves and their family.

There are two types of LPA, a Health and Welfare, and a Property and Financial Affairs. You can find out more by clicking through here. However you can only set one up whilst you have the mental capacity to do so. The alternative is for your relatives to apply to the Court of Protection for the appointment of a Deputy to manage your affairs; not only is this a slow process that could leave your family in financial difficulty in the meantime, or mean your investments lose significant value because your advisers were unable to manage them, but it is also much more expensive than making an LPA. Typically it could cost you (since the fees will eventually be drawn from your assets) upward of £2000, with ongoing costs on an annual basis. Clearly it is much better to sort this out now whilst you can select who you want to act as your attorney, rather than leaving it to others to do.

For more information contact me using the form, or call me on 0151 559 0695. Whatever you do, don’t delay.

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Sep 1 16

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney and why do I need one?

Roger Wastnedge

It is a sad fact that 225,000 people in Britain develop dementia every year according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s) were introduced in 2007 as a replacement for Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA’s) as a result of the enactment of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The function of an LPA is to allow for a donor – the person making it, to choose trusted people known as attorneys, to make decisions on the donor’s behalf and protects those who do not have the physical or mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. All LPA’s are dealt with and legally enforced by the Office of the Public Guardian.

There are two types of LPA that currently exist, the first of which is a ‘Health and Welfare’ LPA. This type of LPA can only be used in situations where the donor does not have the mental capacity – the ability to make decisions for themselves and cannot be invoked otherwise. There is some flexibility as to the extent of the powers the LPA can grant – the appointed attorneys can only make specific decisions if you outline it to be so, for example making judgements such as daily routine and diet, right through to moving into supported care or agreeing to lifesaving medical treatment.

As well as the Health and Welfare LPA, there is the ‘Property and Financial Affairs’ LPA, which as the name suggests links directly to the personal property and money of the donor, and what the attorney can do with it. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used immediately upon registration, there is no requirement for the lack of mental capacity. Many people opt to make both types of LPA, though there is no necessity to do so, you can opt to make or the other.

Preventative measures do exist to make sure attorneys only ever act within the donor’s interests, and that they must follow instructions regarding any specific decisions.

I can provide you with advice on the creation and registration of an LPA to include these preventative measures. Contact us today on 0151 559 0695, or use the contact form below.

Talk to Roger Wastnedge of Border Wills of Merseyside if you feel you or a loved one may need to appoint an LPA.

Aug 8 16

Fast-track your Lasting Power of Attorney before it’s too late

Roger Wastnedge

Sir Jackie Stewart announced in June that his wife Lady Helen Stewart is suffering from dementia

The world champion Formula One driver explained that his wife of 55 years now requires around the clock care. Lady Helen, 75, was diagnosed with dementia 2 years ago, but this is the first time the racing driver has spoken about the changes he has seen in his wife.

Whilst he believes it is too late to help Lady Helen, he has launched a charity named Race Against Dementia to seek a cure for dementia sufferers in the future.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society 225,000 Britons each year are diagnosed with the condition.

It further highlights the need for people to have LPAs (Lasting Powers of Attorney) in place.

There are two types of LPA that currently exist, the first of which is a ‘Health and Welfare’ LPA. This type of LPA can only be used in situations where the donor does not have the mental capacity – the ability to make decisions for themselves and cannot be invoked otherwise. There is some flexibility as to the extent of the powers the LPA can grant – the appointed attorneys can only make specific decisions if you outline it to be so, for example making judgements such as daily routine and diet, right through to moving into supported care or agreeing to lifesaving medical treatment.

As well as the Health and Welfare LPA, there is the ‘Property and Financial Affairs’ LPA, which as the name suggests links directly to the personal property and money of the donor, and what the attorney can do with it. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used immediately upon registration, there is no requirement for the lack of mental capacity.

Many people opt to make both types of LPA, though there is no necessity to do so, you can opt to only make one or the other.

If mental capacity is lost prior to making a Lasting Power of attorney it can cost thousands of pounds through the Court of Protection with fees starting from £400, plus legal fees, insurance and supervision fees. It is cheaper and more straight-forward to do so whilst you are able.

To appoint an LPA please contact me using the form below.