Powers of attorney
Appoint one or more people to make decisions on your behalf
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) enable you to set out your wishes in a legal document and to appoint trusted people as 'attorneys' to oversee them if you become unable to make them yourself through ill health.
There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney:
- Lasting Power of Attorney Property and Affairs
- Lasting Power of Attorney Personal Welfare.
This allows someone to make decisions about healthcare and where you live.
The forms are available from the for England and Wales and Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland).
The forms can be completed at any time but they have no legal authority until they are registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. You can find out about the fees on the Office of the Public Guardian websites.
Some people prefer to use a solicitor to carry out the process for them. You can find a solicitor using the Law Society website or the Law Society of Scotland website.
You cannot apply to have Lasting Power of Attorney for someone who has already lost the capacity to make decisions for themselves. However, in this situation you can apply to the Court of Protection to become a Deputy.
Lasting Powers of Attorney cease on the date of death so it is important you also make a Will to give instructions about what should happen after your death.
The person who has been granted power of attorney should notify the Office of the Public Guardian of the death of the person for whom they held the power of attorney.