Lasting Power of Attorney/Enduring Power of Attorney

lloydsdragon

My husband and I made out EPA's in1996 having been told it would give the attorney the right to make all decisions on our part if we became unable to do so , in 2007 the company who made out our wills and EPA's sent out information that if we did not have EPA's then we would soon need to make out LPA's.. We were told that as ours were already done that they would stand and everything would proceed as planned should they need to be used.
We are now being told that as well as the EPA's we need to take out a Welfare LPA as the law has changed and this is not covered in an EPA.
AS the company is also trying to persuade us to allow them to take charge of Probate (at a fee) and also to take out a funeral plan with them etc. etc. I wonder if anyone knows if the whole EPA/LPA thing is just a case of them trying to drum up business and take more fees or if it is a genuine case of something we should consider doing.

Baggysdad

There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney:

Property and Affairs - in which you appoint attorneys to manage your financial affairs, in the event of you not having the mental capacity to do so yourself, in much the same was as you did when you drew up your Enduring Power of Attorney.

Personal Welfare - in which you appoint attorneys to manage your personal affairs - such as where you live and how you are cared for in the event of you not having the mental capacity to do so yourself. There was no equivalent to this document under the Enduring Power of Attorney.

Whether you should draw up a Personal Welfare LPA is a moot point. The reality is that family members are involved in such decision making anyway, and its only if you have particularly strong views about how you want to be cared for, or if you don't want family to be involved, or if you don't have family that IMHO, it is worth doing this document.

You can get pretty close to achieving the same thing by drawing up an Advance Decision, which is a much simpler (and therefore cheaper) document.

As regards allowing them to take charge of probate - tell em to get stuffed. I cannot see the point of tying your beneficiaries to this firm (or any firm) now - and I don't suppose they will be able to give you a cast iron guarantee that they will still be in business when you die anyway. And if they are writing to clients persuading them to take out LPA's, probate and funeral plans, I have to question the financial stability of the firm anyway. Now that tax saving Wills have gone away, getting clients to sign up for probate services at he time of making the Will is the new big cash cow for Willwriting firms. Buyer beware.

B

monkeyspanner

My wife had an EPA for her mother and managed all aspects of her care, both financial and medical with no problems raised by any organisations as to her authority to act on her mother's behalf. This was both before and after the introduction of LPA's. This included:

Banking
Solicitors
At home care including direct payments
House Sale
Re-housing in sheltered accommodation
Various hospital stays and treatment.
Dealing with social services
NHS Continuing healthcare funding
Care home

As regards appointing executors for probate there is no way I would let a solicitor take control of this process unless I had absolutely no-one I could trust to appoint as executor. The executors can always consult specialist advisors if they need to, but most enquiries can be handled by asking the revenue or probate office.

Pee

Advice above is good. Unless you feel very strongly about personal welfare, you probably don't need an LPA to cover it. Actually, if I'm not able to communicate how I feel then the Dr might as well decide what should be done as anyone else. If you want to do a Living Will or advance directive, I suggest you contact the Terence Higgins Trust for their form, which is really good and easy to use. They require a donation, so send them £20 and everyone should be happy.

If you have adult beneficiaries who are literate and can work together, you don't need a professional executor. This doesn't sound like a solicitor's firm. You certainly do not want to use a non-professional Executor who you have to pay.

sloughflint

Pee wrote: »

You certainly do not want to use a non-professional Executor who you have to pay.

I didn't think non-professional executors could charge (other than out of pocket expenses)

Pee

sloughflint wrote: »

I didn't think non-professional executors could charge (other than out of pocket expenses)

Unless there is a specific clause, this is true. However if someone writes a Will appointing themselves to be executor, or their firm, there would be a charging clause.