Wills & Probate
Lasting Powers of Attorney and the Court of Protection:
Managing your affairs if you are no longer able
We all like to feel we are in control of our personal and financial affairs but there may be times when we need help from someone we can trust
If you were
In hospital following an accident
Incapacitated because of an injury
Suffering from a mental illness such as Alzheimer’s or the effects of a stroke
How could you
Access your bank/savings accounts
Deal with your bills and other commitments
Collect your pension or benefits
Sign legal documents
What if you couldn’t? How would you cope? There is a simple solution to this difficulty - sign a Lasting Power of Attorney. This allows you to appoint someone (an “attorney”) to look after your financial affairs in your place. Even if you lose mental capacity in the future your attorneys can continue acting on your behalf if they register the document with the Court of Protection.
Lasting Powers of Attorney are not just limited to financial affairs. If you were incapacitated how would you deal with non-financial matters? It is now also possible to appoint someone to deal with your ‘personal welfare’. Your chosen attorney could consent to medical treatment on your behalf make decisions about your healthcare and living arrangements, deal with your personal correspondence or make decisions about lifesaving treatment on your behalf. Your chosen attorney can make these decisions only if you have lost the ability to make them yourself, but it can be reassuring to know that someone you know and trust can act for you.
Powers of Attorney are useful and very powerful documents but they must be created before capacity is lost.
We can advise you:
Whether a Lasting Power of Attorney would help you
Who to choose as your Attorney(s)
What restrictions (if any) you should place on your Attorney(s)
Your and your Attorney’s rights, duties and obligations
How, when and why a Lasting Power of Attorney should be registered
Whether an existing Enduring Power of Attorney should be registered
Whether it is too late to create a Lasting Power of Attorney (if so, the Court of Protection can appoint someone to act). We can
Assist with the appointment of a Deputy for someone who has lost mental capacity but requires assistance in dealing with their affairs
Advise in the day to day running of a Deputyship
Advise on the impact of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its implications on the Deputyship
Act as a Deputy or assist lay Deputies with their duties
Advise on the making or amending of Statutory wills
If you need advice or further information on Powers of Attorney or the Court of Protection, please contact:
Emily Wigg at our York office:
Ingrams Solicitors
10 Great North Way
York Business Park
York
YO26 6RB
01904 520600
emilyw@ingramssolicitors.co.uk
Or, click here to request more information
Or come to our Free Legal Clinic, which is held at our York and Hull offices every Thursday night between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm.
