Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a way of giving someone you trust, your attorney, the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the mental capacity to do so in the future, or if you no longer want to make decisions for yourself.

There are two types of LPA:

Property & Financial Affairs
This can be used while you still have mental capacity or you can state that you only want it to come into force if you lose capacity.
An LPA for financial decisions can cover things such as:

• Buying and selling property
• Paying the mortgage
• Investing money
• Paying bills
• Arranging repairs to property.

You can restrict the types of decisions your attorney can make, or let them make all decisions on your behalf.

Health & Welfare
This covers health and care decisions and can only be used once you have lost mental capacity. An attorney can generally make decisions about things such as:

• Where you should live
• Your medical care
• What you should eat
• Who you should have contact with
• What kind of social activities you should take part in.

You can also give special permission for your attorney to make decisions about life-saving treatment.

Don’t assume
If you’re married or in a civil partnership, you may have assumed that your spouse would automatically be able to deal with your bank account and pensions, and make decisions about your healthcare, if you lose the ability to do so. This is not the case. Without an LPA, they won’t have the authority.