A Lasting Power of Attorney is an extremely useful legal document to supplement your Will, and it is usually seen as one of the final pieces in the process of planning and protecting your estate. Whilst a Will describes what happens when we die, we seldom think about who would manage our affairs, or make decisions regarding our welfare should we not be able to ourselves.

Through either or both of these documents you can appoint whom you wish to manage your finances and property, and/or arrange for someone to make decisions regarding your medical treatment or your welfare if you can’t make decisions for yourself because of illnesses such as dementia, or if you have an accident leaving you mentally incapacitated.

The simplest way of determining whether you would benefit from this document would be to ask yourself the question “if you couldn’t manage your affairs, who has LEGAL permission to do so on your behalf?” This is very different from people wanting to help – very often companies won’t speak to such people unless they have legal authority, which could be given to them through a registered Lasting Power of Attorney.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *