It is natural to have concerns and worries when setting up your Lasting Power of Attorney. We have collated some of our clients most common concerns and provided you with the best ways to mitigate these concerns.
Financial Abuse
It is natural to worry about someone potentially taking advantage of you financially if they are given access to all of your assets. However, there are ways to mitigate such risks:
Appoint someone you trust.
Limit the powers your attorney can have, for example, you can prevent an attorney from gifting themselves money. We would always recommend exercising caution when limiting the powers your attorney can have because it may interfere with how they can act in your best interests.
Have a Trust in place where a professional Trustee, or other trusted persons are appointed as your Trustees. This means that a lot of your assets will be held and protected. Your attorneys cannot move any assets without the agreement of all Trustees. It is particularly beneficial to have a professional Trustee because they do not have any personal claim in the Trust.
Appoint more than one attorney to act as your primary so you have two trusted people keeping an eye on you.
If anyone did suspect an attorney of abusing their power then concerns can be raised with the Office of the Public Guardian who shall investigate thoroughly.
2. Attorney Disagreement
It may be the case that two appointed attorneys who are to act at the same level disagree on a decision. If this occurs, and the attorneys cannot come to an agreement themselves, they may need to seek out a Power of Attorney Dispute Resolution Solicitor.
Your solicitor can act as a mediator, however if a severe disagreement has taken place - the matter may need to go to Court. To prevent this from happening it is important to chat with your attorneys when you are making your Lasting Power of Attorney. By discussing your wishes in detail, whoever you appoint is aware of the decisions you wish to make which can make the process easier and prevent any further disagreements. It is important to note that serious disagreements are very uncommon and having an open dialogue with your attorneys can prevent this from occurring to you.
3. Changing/Updating a Registered LPA
Once your LPA is registered it is slightly more difficult to amend it than it would be before it was registered. There are different ways to change an LPA and different reasons why it may need changing:
Updating names and addresses - all this requires is getting in touch with the OPG to update them on the change, You do not need to change the document itself and you should never make any changes yourself to a registered LPA document.
Removing an attorney - If you wish to remove an attorney you can complete a 'partial deed of revocation', the OPG will then issue you with an update which you will send to any bodies who hold a copy of your LPA.
Adding/changing an attorney - You cannot add or change an attorney, to do this you need to revoke the existing LPAs and resubmit a new application.
Creating a Lasting Power of Attorney is extremely important, often circumstances are unforeseen, and you want to make sure you and your loved ones are as protected and cared for as possible, which beings with creating a Lasting Power of Attorney.
A Lasting Power of Attorney can give you peace of mind that you are being cared for by those who love you most and allow those people to look after you without any of the worries that would exist if you didn't have an LPA in place.
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