How long does it take?
Patience is needed when it comes to the registration of your lasting power of attorney, and it is likely to take far longer than expected.
The Office of the Public Guardian suggests the turnaround time is around 20 weeks. Recent experience suggests that allowing 5-6 months is a good idea.
While you wait
You may want to arrange a little extra help while waiting for your Lasting Powers of Attorney to be registered. This will mean the people you trust can make certain decisions for you or do certain things on your behalf, like dealing with utilities and other service providers.
The suggestions in this article are published by the Office of the Public Guardian. They’re helpful but they don’t replace registered Lasting Powers of Attorney. You must make arrangements for help whilst you have the mental capacity to do so.
Write down your wishes
Make notes about what you want to happen if you need more help to manage because of an accident, illness, or loss of capacity. Talk to your family and friends about your thoughts and wishes. Make sure they know where to find your notes. Anything you write down won’t be legally binding, so consider your notes as a guide.
Property and finance decisions
If you are taking measures to protect yourself, there are ways you can allow someone else to manage your property and financial affairs.
Third-party mandate
A third-party mandate means you allow someone else to make bank transactions for you. Speak to your bank or building society for more details.
General power of attorney
With a general power of attorney, you authorise someone to manage your financial affairs or do certain things on your behalf. It can only be used while you have the mental capacity to tell them what to do.
Contact your local Citizen’s Advice or solicitor for more advice. You can make a general power of attorney using online tools and templates, but banks may only be willing to act on them if they are specific enough. Getting expert advice is sensible.
Health and Welfare decisions
Recording your wishes for your future treatment and care is called ‘advance care planning’ and, like a Lasting Power of Attorney, can include an advance decision and advance statement.
Advance decision
An advance decision is a record of a decision you make now to refuse a specific type of treatment at some time in the future. If it meets specific requirements, an advance decision is legally binding.
You can use the helpful online tools at MyDecisions, or the Compassion in Dying website has a useful guide and forms.
Advance statement
You can write an advance statement to set down your preferences, wishes, beliefs and values regarding your future care. It is not legally binding, but anyone making decisions about your care must consider it.
If you lose mental capacity
If you lose mental capacity and do not have an LPA, the law (Mental Capacity Act 2005) says that the people looking after you must still:
make decisions that are in your best interests
try to find out your past and present wishes, views, beliefs, and values
consider the views of anyone interested in your welfare, for example, your family and close friends.
If someone, such as a family member or close friend, needs specific authority to make decisions for you, they can apply to the Court of Protection to become your ‘deputy’. It usually takes several months for the court to grant a deputy court order.
Can we help?
If you would like any help or guidance about making your Lasting Powers of Attorney please get in touch. We can draft your documents for you and guide you through the process.
Checking service
We also have a new Lasting Powers of Attorney checking service. If you’ve made your own Lasting Powers of Attorney online, we can cast an expert eye over the printed form for you. Our fee will depend on how long we need to spend on checking and giving feedback.
