Lasting Powers of Attorney

Dementia - the country's most feared illness!
 

Polls confirm that fear about the development of dementia in old age has dramatically increased

A YouGov poll of more than 2,000 people found that 31 per cent feared the onset of dementia the most as they age; substantially more than getting cancer and even more than death itself! Currently 820,000 people in Britain are thought to suffer with dementia with the most common cause being Alzheimers disease. As the UK population continues to age, numbers of sufferers are spiralling and within two decades one in three pensioners will die with the condition.

To avoid leaving your loved ones having to make difficult decisions call Affinity now.

Call now on FREEPHONE 0800 731 3071 or click here to ask a question

You can create two types of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA):

Property & Financial Affairs LPA
This allows you to choose someone who will ensure that all your property and financial affairs will be looked after. For example, operate your bank account, pay your bills, sort out your tax and decide what to do with your home. You can however impose restrictions: eg, preventing them from selling a second home, which you had left to a relative in a will.

Health & Welfare LPA
This allows you to choose someone to make decisions about your healthcare and welfare.  This includes decisions to refuse or consent to treatment on your behalf or what medical treatment you are given; deciding where you live, what you eat and drink and even what you wear.

How many people should you appoint and whom?
You may not be able to check up on your appointed attorney yourself if you become incapable, so it may be a good idea to appoint more than one person to help prevent abuse of the responsibility. Choose people you can trust to act in your best interests. Consider how well they look after their own financial affairs and whether you can trust them to use your money to meet your needs.

It’s a long, exasperating and expensive procedure to have the Court of Protection rule on who can deal with your affairs if you lose capacity. Most people want them to be handled by a spouse, partner or children (who are invariably still around). These are people who can take care of you, and of course they have your best interests at heart.

You can avoid having the Court of Protection imposing these decisions on you by signing a Lasting Power of Attorney whilst you still have the mental capacity to do so.