But what happens if your decisions need to be made on your behalf whilst you are still living? A Will won’t assist in such circumstances but having an LPA should.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document where you as the Donor appoint someone (usually close relatives or friends) to be your Attorney(s) to make certain decisions on your behalf including when you lack mental capacity.

So, by putting an LPA in place now, means you essentially retain a degree of control – Naturally, you would only appoint people you trust to carry out your wishes and who will always act in your best interests. You can also place restrictions or conditions on the face of the document itself.

There are two types of LPA:

1. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA which allows your Attorney(s) to make decisions about paying bills, dealing with the bank, collecting benefits, selling your house, etc; you can make an LPA to be used for financial decisions while you still have mental capacity.
2. A Health and Welfare LPA which allows your Attorney(s) to make decisions regarding treatment, care, medication, where you live, etc. You can create this LPA to be used only if you can no longer make your own decisions – known as losing ‘mental capacity’.

Currently, almost 1 million people in the UK have been diagnosed with dementia and this figure is rising. It’s anticipated that 1 in 3 individuals over 65 will suffer from some form of dementia and if capacity becomes an issue, it may not be possible to put an LPA in place at that stage. This means that your loved one is then left with the costly alternative of applying to the Court of Protection to become your Deputy (Deputyship). This is a slow process, taking 4-6 months once the paperwork has been completed, and while awaiting the outcome your affairs may be in a state of limbo. Preparing an LPA in a timely fashion could therefore also save your family a lot of stress, pressure and unnecessary expense.

As for accidents, every 90 seconds someone is admitted to hospital in the UK with a brain injury – traffic or contact-sport accidents are examples of what can go wrong. Once completed and registered, an LPA can be used if you suffer a physical infirmity for example in a serious accident, but you regain control of making your own decisions once you recover.

So, an LPA isn’t simply to be considered just by the elderly, although of course it allows you to plan in advance so that other people of your choosing may make decisions on your behalf at a point in time when you might lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself.

If you would like more information, or are looking to put an LPA in place, please contact our friendly team of experts who will be happy to talk to through the process.

The post So you have a Will, but wonder if you need a Lasting Power of Attorney? appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

Types of LPA

There are two types of LPA in the UK:

• Health and Welfare LPA – This is used for decisions about your personal and medical welfare such as your daily care, what sort of medical treatments and health care you receive and where you live.  It also allows your Attorney to give consent or refuse consent to life sustaining treatment on your behalf if you so wish.  This Lasting Power of Attorney takes effect only when you are mentally unable to make decisions for yourself.

• Property and Financial Affairs LPA – This is used for decisions related to finances such as paying bills, managing your bank accounts, collecting pensions and buying or selling property.  You can choose whether it can be used immediately or only when you have lost the ability to make financial decisions.

Do You Need an LPA?

You should consider an LPA if:

• You want someone you trust to handle your affairs if you lose mental capacity.
• You have assets or savings that need managing.
• You want to avoid court intervention (without an LPA, loved ones may need to apply for a Deputyship, which is costly and time-consuming).
• You want to ensure your healthcare and financial decisions align with your wishes.

You’re never ‘too young’ to set up an LPA – the earlier in life you do it the better. The minimum age for setting up an LPA in the UK is 18.

What happens when you suddenly need help managing your affairs?

One of the main benefits of making a Lasting Power of Attorney is that, should you no longer want to deal with your own affairs, or be unable to, you have personally picked someone you trust to help you when you’ll need it – someone you know who will manage things in a way that is in your best interests.

Should you become incapacitated without an LPA in place, an application to the Court of Protection will need to be made to appoint a Deputy to act for you, someone to manage your affairs such as pay the bills and have the legal right to deal with your bank.  The person appointed by the Court of Protection may not be someone you would have chosen and the whole process can take a long time and is expensive.

How to Set Up an LPA

At BTTJ, our specialist lawyers can help you with all aspects of Lasting Powers of Attorney. Simply contact us to arrange an appointment and we can talk you through what is involved. We can help with any queries you have and advise the best approach for your circumstances.

You’ll find our team extremely good at listening, and we will be able to talk through your circumstances with you, and understand exactly what it is that you want.

We can prepare Lasting Powers of Attorney for you and get them registered at the Office of the Public Guardian, ensuring you fully understand all aspects of the documents and what will happen and when. We’ll also be able to ensure that the documents accurately reflect your wishes, and we can add specific conditions and change the scope of the documents to enable this.

An LPA can only be created while you have full mental capacity. Given that none of us knows if, how or when that capacity may be lost, we would always recommend putting something in place at the earliest opportunity..

Do I need a solicitor to set up an LPA?

While you don’t have to use a solicitor to create an LPA, it could prevent problems later on – especially if you’re unsure of the process or your affairs are complex. Using a solicitor is more costly than filling the forms yourself, but you should find that the reassurance of having professional advice is worth it. 

What is an Advanced Decision?

Alongside LPAs and Wills, is the lesser-known Advance Decision (AD), also known as a Living Will or Advance Directive. This is a document in which you can set out your wishes regarding medical treatment in the event where you suffer a serious illness and become incapacitated.

An AD is designed to allow you to say which medical treatments you wish to refuse and under which circumstances, and enables you to refuse life sustaining treatments such as being ventilated.

You will need to ensure that people know that you have made an AD because there is no central register.  You therefore need to file it with your GP and also, if appropriate, with your hospital.  You may also choose to let family or friends know of its existence (or may prefer not to).

Once an AD is finalised, health professionals are legally obliged to ensure your wishes are carried out. It is important to understand that an AD generally overrides the wishes of your next of Kin.

We can help you with all aspects of an Advance Decision document.  We can explain how this document works and also how it sits alongside other legal options such as a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney.

We have local offices in Coventry, Warwick, Balsall Common and Southam and cover the whole of Coventry, Warwickshire and beyond. If you are looking to set up an LPA and/or AD, then please get in touch with one of our highly experienced and friendly team who will be happy to assist.

The post What is a Lasting Power of Attorney, and do I need one? appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

Saher joined us today as a Solicitor in our Private Client Department, based in our Balsall Common office.

Saher qualified as a solicitor in 2002 and has gained TEP qualification from the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners (STEP).

She is able to advise on Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Estate Planning.  Saher also deals with the administration of estates.

Saher spends 100% of her time dealing with Private Client matters.

Welcome to the firm Saher, from all at BTTJ!

The post New member of our Private Client Team – Saher Iqbal appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

Helen Strong, Private Client Solicitor says “Quite often after I have completed a Will for a client, they comment that it was a much easier process than they had envisaged, and it was something on their “to do list” that they should have completed months or even years before.

Completing a Will is thought to be a daunting experience when having to consider what happens after you pass away, however, it is an important process and task on your to do list to complete, not only to ensure your wishes take place but also to ensure your loved ones are protected.”

Something else you may wish to consider is appointing a Lasting Power of Attorney, often just referred to as an LPA, is a legal document that lets you appoint someone, called an Attorney, to make decisions on your behalf and handle your affairs for you under circumstances when you are physically or mentally unable to do so yourself. For example, if you became ill and were physically or mentally unable to manage, you would need someone you trust to help you with your day to day affairs – like paying your bills.

Our friendly and down to earth Private Client Team here at Brindley Twist Tafft & James will make the process as straightforward and unnerving as possible.  We pride ourselves on developing and maintaining ongoing relationships with our clients.

We have dedicated Will & LPA experts based at each of our local offices – Coventry, Warwick, Balsall Common & Southam, or we can even visit you at home if there is a need. We hope that this opens up the door to making a Will easier for you and helps start the process of ticking this task off your to-do list.

Contact us today to see how we can help you.

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People who leave formalising important documents called Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA), concerning their health and finances and then lose capacity through unforeseen events such as heart attacks, strokes or accidents are behind the increase.

By leaving it too late results in unnecessary higher legal fees and a far lengthier wait to enable someone’s affairs to be sorted out should they lose capacity.

A LPA is a legal document allowing an individual to hand over the running of their affairs to a family member or friend they trust, allowing that person to make decisions on matters such as their health and wellbeing, or finance and property, either when they lose the capacity to make their own decisions on such matters or if they become physically unable to deal with their own affairs.

Lasting Powers of Attorney, can only be made when a person has capacity to make their own decisions. Once made, they are registered through the Office of the Public Guardian, while Deputyship Orders are applied for by a third party on behalf of a person no longer able to manage their affairs, and this type of order has to go through the Court of Protection. The latter carries ongoing costs in the form of insurance bonds and supervision fees and is a far more costly process.

While Lasting Powers of Attorney arranged in advance of someone losing their capacity usually take around four months to be registered, an application for a Deputyship Order takes a minimum of nine months currently and can cost between £3,000 and £5,000.

Some of the most recent deputyship applications we have received have been on behalf of people aged only in their 50s and 60s who have been struck down by heart attacks and strokes and have lost their capacity.

Of course, there are probably a lot of people who haven’t considered Lasting Powers of Attorney at what these days is still a relatively young age but the increase in deputyships we are seeing demonstrates the importance of a person having their own affairs in order.

A 16-year study in Oxfordshire earlier this year, involving 94,000 individuals, demonstrated a growing problem of young adult stroke – particularly among those earning high incomes.

Between 2002 – 2010 and 2010 – 2018 the number of strokes among people aged 55 and under rose by 67 per cent.

Another report published earlier this year revealed some 170,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in England – equating to five in 100 young men and one in 100 young women – unknowingly had risky high blood pressure.

There is a common misconception that you should start thinking about Lasting Powers of Attorney at about the time when you start thinking about putting your affairs in order in later life or going into a care home, but due to the stresses of the 21^st Century and the lifestyles we lead this really isn’t the case.

Wills exist to protect our wishes after we have died. If you are alive but incapacitated due to a life-changing accident, illness or simply old age, Lasting Powers of Attorney exist to protect your wishes concerning your health and financial interests, and alleviate problems such as bank accounts being frozen, uncertainty over what should happen to your property or shares, or where you should live if you are unable to remain in your own home.

For further advice on LPA’s or any other Private Client matter, please contact our friendly team who will be happy to assist.

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Should you find yourself in a position in the future where you lack mental capacity for any reason (such as dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, or you are involved an accident), and you do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney (sometimes known as an LPA) in place, then no one can act on your behalf and make decisions for you.

Unless you have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, then no one has the legal right to assist you, unless a Court order is applied for and obtained. This is known as a Deputyship Order.

A Deputyship Order is an Order issued by the Court of Protection to appoint someone to act as your Deputy.  The process to obtain such Order is both extremely lengthy and costly and can easily be avoided should you have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place.

Please do not hesitate to contact our friendly Private Client team who will happily talk you through the importance of a Lasting Power of Attorney and assist you (or a loved one) with obtaining the same, if required.

The post What happens if you do not have a Power of Attorney? appeared first on Brindley Twist Tafft & James.

Both family relationships and finances have become more complicated in our society, and end-of-life plans can seem overwhelming as a result, even for younger people.

But a few simple steps can ensure all your wishes are respected and disruption to your family and friends is minimised at an incredibly difficult time.

We explain below why end-of-life planning is not just preparing a will.

A will is an incredibly important and prudent step for peace of mind, but it is only one aspect of end-of-life planning.

Establishing a lasting power of attorney (LPA), life insurances, pensions, care plans, and funeral arrangements are often overlooked but are vital considerations.”

Will

Simply put, a will is a legal document that tells everyone what you want to happen to your ‘estate’ – a term that encompasses your money, possessions, and property – after you die.

A will prevents your family or friends from suffering unnecessary stress and upheaval during a difficult period, especially if you have children or other family who depend on you financially.

Wills are becoming more complex as people make money younger than in the past, have more assets, and more complicated family structures.

If you do not have a will when you die, your money, property, and possessions will be shared out according to UK law instead of your express wishes. This means your estate could go to someone you did not want it to, while a loved one you wanted to benefit ends up with nothing.

And remember – home-made, free or cheap wills do not always ensure your wishes are protected and could result in unnecessary legal challenges.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

A LPA is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people (known as an ‘attorney’) to help make decisions on your behalf, if you cannot make those decisions yourself.

It will help your loved ones substantially if you were to suffer an accident or illness and cannot make your own decisions – a situation where you either ‘lack mental capacity’ or are physically unwell.

A LPA lasts for the rest of your life, so once it has been arranged you can enjoy peace of mind. BTTJ stores clients’ LPAs for free of charge until the moment they are needed.

There are two common types of LPA. The first is a Health and Welfare LPA which gives your attorneys the power to make decisions such as where you live, the type of care you receive and the care provider. You can also give them the power to consent or refuse medical treatment on your behalf.

The second is a Property and Financial Affairs LPA which gives your attorneys the power to manage your finances for you, such as overseeing your bank account, paying bills, managing your investments, or dealing with any property you own.

Protect your home against care fees

Our Private Client department is seeing more and more queries from clients who are asking how they can protect their assets from care home fees and ensure they leave their hard-earned money for their family.

Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to help protect some of your assets from care home fees.

Most simple wills will leave everything to your spouse or civil partner and then everything to your children (or other beneficiaries) when they die. There is nothing wrong with this in practice, but what happens if your surviving spouse or civil partner has to go into care a few years later and their assets need to be used towards care home fees?

However, there is a way of structuring your wills using a trust to protect at least half of your property, which has no impact on you during your lifetime and only takes effect on the death of the first spouse or civil partner. 

Instead of leaving all your assets outright to your surviving spouse or civil partner on the first death, you can each place your half share of your home into a trust for the benefit of your surviving spouse or civil partner to enjoy but not be able to spend.

This is a popular way of safeguarding half of your property from care home fees. It leaves the surviving spouse or civil partner with peace of mind that they can benefit and enjoy the full use of the property during their lifetime, while knowing that half of the property will be protected for the people they ultimately want to benefit from their will.

If you would like any further information, advice, or assistance, please contact our friendly Private Client team on 02476 531532 or enquiries@bttj.com 

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First there was Denzil Lush, the former Senior Judge of the Court of Protection who, as was reported in the Financial Times, said that people should be far more aware of the risks involved in power of attorney arrangements.

Then there were the proposals announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which would see the current pen and paper signature scrapped and replaced by a fully online process.

But what exactly are LPAs? Why do we have them and isn’t a fully digital system a good thing?

An LPA is a legal document where you as the Donor appoint someone (usually close relatives or friends) to be your Attorney(s) (and possibly Replacement Attorney(s)) to make certain decisions on your behalf including when you lack mental capacity.

There are two types of LPA:

• A Financial LPA which allows your Attorney(s) to make decisions about paying bills, dealing with the bank, collecting benefits, selling your house, etc; and
• A Health and Care LPA which allows your Attorney(s) to make decisions regarding treatment, care, medication, where you live, etc.

For example, if you have made a LPA and have an illness, or an accident, that then stops you from making decisions, a Lasting Power of Attorney would ensure that the person you have chosen now has the responsibility to make the decisions for you.

If you haven’t made a LPA, the Court of Protection would need to get involved to decide on your mental capacity and who is best placed to make decisions on your behalf.  Someone would need to apply to the Court to be appointed as Deputy.  This is a slow process, taking 4-6 months once the paperwork has been completed, and while awaiting the outcome your affairs may be in a state of limbo. Preparing an LPA in a timely fashion could therefore also save your family a lot of stress, pressure and unnecessary expense.  It also ensures that you have chosen who will make decisions on your behalf should you lose capacity.

What about the proposals for reform of LPAs and the digital signature?

We welcome any improvements in making processes easier for clients and on the surface making the registration of a Lasting Power of Attorney fully digital sounds like a good idea.  After all, it should make it easier for people to apply?

The problem is, as the organisation Solicitors for the Elderly have highlighted, that it might make it easier for people to commit fraud and therefore make it easier to carry out financial abuse on the elderly.  At present, getting a lasting power of attorney in place requires a wet signature (where a person physically signs the document by hand) and a witness.  Our concerns with the proposals are that making the process fully online means that you would no longer need a ‘wet signature’.  Removing that layer of protection means that there is a risk that a LPA could be registered on someone else’s behalf maybe without them even knowing.

David Sinclair, chairman of Solicitors For The Elderly is quoted as saying: “The FCA’s vision of a secure, end-to-end digital LPA registration process is simply not possible. What is to stop a family member or friend registering a document on someone else’s behalf, perhaps even without their knowledge? The prospect of being able to take control of someone else’s bank account and even their property with a few clicks of a button is frankly reckless.”

Most importantly if you are considering making a LPA, it is very important to make sure you understand what it entails, what powers the attorneys will have and any risks.

Our experienced solicitor Helen Strong would be very happy to advise you on setting up an LPA.

If you require any assistance, please give us a call on 024 7653 1532.

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