Lasting Power of Attorney Advice

Keep_pedalling

LHW99 wrote: »

Forget about grammar and stop using them?

I have, but others have not, which makes posts more difficult to read. The real gripe though is a total lack of acknowledgement that the problem exists from anyone in the MSE team,

westv

It's true that the apostrophe problem is a right pain when I'm trying to read affected people's posts.

Shedman

Turning off Smart Punctuation on the iPad seems to work from a quick test I've done

AnotherJoe

You really don't need a solicitor. I've done one for MrsAJa and myself,and for my mother, it is almost trivially easy.
Just take it slow, read the notes.
And just to explain, the process really is straightforward because all you are doing is entering information such as who it's for who the attorneys are and so forth and then it creates a pdf that you print out, sign and send it to be validated and registered.

TARDIS

Shedman wrote: »

Never too soon get both LPAs in place. (Although on the upside of our prevarication is that prices came down 25% so we saved around £100 on our 4 LPAs :T)

For anyone who made an LPA before the price reduction you can request a rebate which only takes a couple of minutes online.

As others have said making an LPA yourself is reasonably straightforwards.
Both LPAs need to be registered to be used. The welfare/health one can only be used if you lack capacity to make that decision - mental capacity is not all or nothing, it's time and decision specific. The finance/property one can be valid immediately (the easiest option) or only if you loose capacity to make those decisions. Think carefully before choosing the latter option or your attorneys may have to provide evidence each time they use the LPA that you lack capacity to make that decision which can be difficult and expensive to obtain as well as a load of extra hassle.

LXdaddy

I agree with most of the posts above (even the ones about apostrophes)

Anyone with internet access and a reasonable degree of confidence can work through completing the LPA on line. I set them up for my Mother In Law, my Father, and most recently for my wife and i.

For my wife and I, we are each other's attorney and have listed our two children as alternates in the case that our attorney is unable or unwilling to act.

I echo the warning about making sure you have "joint and several" if there is more than one attorney - otherwise decision making requires agreement and dual signatures on everything.

As well as the attorneys you need to identify someone who knows you and is prepared to affirm that you have not been put under pressure to appoint the attorney. Obviously this is a safeguard to prevent someone gaining access to a vulnerable person's assets.

Also at the time of signing the documents the donor must have full mental capacity.

Frankly the biggest hurdle for us was getting four sets of documents signed and witnessed by five people in the correct sequence when we don't live next door to each other.