Managing our personal affairs can become more difficult as we become older. When this happens, people tend to turn to a trusted friend or relative to help them out.

By making a property and financial affairs Lasting Power of Attorney, you will give them the authority to be able to deal with financial matters for you.

This could entail taking advice about funding your care or overseeing financial dealings or perhaps make decisions concerning your welfare on your behalf.

You can also make a Lasting Power of Attorney to look after your health and welfare, so your appointed attorneys can make decisions about your care if you are unable to communicate your wishes yourself.

Assistance with making a Lasting Power of Attorney

The LPA documents are lengthy and quite complicated to complete, so some people opt for assistance from a solicitor or trained estate planning professional to draw up the documents on their behalf. The National Careline provides this service for a very reasonable cost. One of our trained consultants can visit you at home to take you through the process and generate the documents for you, ensure that they are correctly signed and witnessed so that when presented to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration, they will be processed without delay. Please contact us on 0800 0699 784 if you wish to discuss this option with us.

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

Lasting Powers of Attorney were introduced through the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and effective from 1/10/2007. A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document enabling a person aged over 18 and with all their mental faculties, to choose another person, or people, to make decisions on their behalf. The person making the choice of person is called the 'donor' and the person taking on the task of managing the donor's affairs is called the 'attorney'. An attorney must act in the best interests of the donor and make decisions as if they themselves were the donor.

Once in place, a Lasting Power of Attorney must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. The document will not give the attorney any powers until it is registered but the donor can register it at any time whilst they have mental capacity. The attorney can apply to register it at any time. The cost of registration for each document is available from the Gov.UK website https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/overview or, if you live in Scotland, more information on Power of Attorney in Scotland is available on The Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) website.

Prior to October 2007, people used provisions under the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act 1985 to set up an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) to enable someone to take care of their finances if they were unable to do so, but the powers under an EPA did not extend to decisions concerning health matters. No new EPAs have been issued since October 2007, but there are still many in existence and they are still valid unless they have been replaced or revoked, but no amendments can be made to them.

If an individual named in an EPA starts to lose capacity, their attorney(s) must register the EPA with the Court of Protection. During the time the registration is being processed the attorney(s) can still make financial decisions for necessary items such as payment of regular bills or housekeeping expenses, but they are unable to deal with larger transactions such as the sale of property until the registration has been completed.

A permanent power of attorney has different names in different parts of the UK:

• England and Wales: Lasting Power of Attorney
• Scotland: Continuing Power of Attorney
• Northern Ireland: Enduring Power of Attorney

The major differences between the types of power of attorney are the decisions they cover - financial ones, or ones about your health and welfare. The options available depend on where you live.

England and Wales

There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). You can set up one or both:

• A property and financial affairs LPA lets someone manage all your financial affairs - for example, running your bank and savings accounts, managing your tax affairs, and buying and selling investments and property.
• A health and welfare LPA lets someone make decisions about your health, care and welfare - for example, what personal care you need, medical treatment you receive and whether you move into care.

Scotland

There are three types of lasting power of attorney:

• A Continuing Power of Attorney lets someone manage all your financial affairs.
• A Welfare Power of Attorney lets someone make decisions about your care and welfare.
• A Combined PoA gives continuing and welfare powers, The majority of PoAs registered are a combination of continuing and welfare powers. However, it is your choice as to the type of PoA you wish to grant.

Continuing Power of Attorneys, Welfare Power of Attorneys and the Combined Power of Attorneys all fall under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and must be registered with the Office of Public Guardian (Scotland) before they can be used.

Northern Ireland

There is only one type of power of attorney, an Enduring Power of Attorney. It lets someone manage all your financial affairs, similar to the English property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney. There isn't a power of attorney that lets someone make decisions about your health and well-being.

Registration and costs

You can draw up an LPA yourself, via the website of the Office of the Public Guardian. There is no fee for making an LPA but you will have to register the document before it can be used in England, Wales and Scotland.

In Northern Ireland you can use an Enduring Power of Attorney without registering it while you still have mental capacity, but you must register it as soon as your mental capacity starts to decline. You register an enduring Power of Attorney with the Office of Care and Protection.

It's best to register your Powers of Attorney as soon as possible. This is because during the registration process the document will be checked for errors.

Registration fee

• England and Wales: £82 for each lasting power of attorney
• Scotland: £87 for submission of a continuing and/or welfare power of attorney
• Northern Ireland: £151 to register an enduring power of attorney

The fee may change so it's a good idea to check when you register as you can apply to pay less when you use the following links to register a lasting power of attorney (LPA) or an enduring power of attorney (EPA).

A Lasting Power of Attorney is an important piece of planning for the future and making one can only be done whilst a person has the mental capacity to do so. It is a vital document as, with mental capacity lost and no formal Power of Attorney in place, people are unable to make any decisions on your behalf without first applying to the Court of Protection.

If there is no provision such as a Lasting Power of Attorney in place for the person you care for or you are having problems with a Court of Protection issue, we can help you. Please contact us or use our FREE HELPLINE on 0800 0699 784.

Contact the Office of the Public Guardian if you have concerns about an attorney, deputy or a decision they've made for someone else. For example, the misuse of money, decisions that aren't in the best interests of the person they're responsible for or criminal activity.

Email: opg.safeguardingunit@publicguardian.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone: 0300 456 0300 Textphone: 0115 934 2778

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (except Wednesday) - Wednesday 10am to 5pm

The Office of the Public Guardian can help if there is a registered lasting power of attorney, a registered enduring power of attorney or a court order. If one of these isn't in place, you may have to contact:

• the Department for Work and Pensions for concerns about benefits
• your local adult social services for concerns about care or safeguarding
• your local police if you think someone is not in immediate danger but the attorney has committed a criminal offence

Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger.

Improved information to support attorneys

Research by the OPG found that many attorneys acting under either a property and finance or health and welfare LPA needed more advice on how to carry out their role effectively to protect the donor's best interests.

They have developed two leaflets offering a quick guide to getting started as an attorney.

The leaflets have been extensively tested. They've been read and commented on by a number of attorneys, external organisations, including the NHS, local authorities, businesses and charities with an interest in LPAs and OPG staff.

The leaflets will be sent to attorneys along with the OPG letter telling them that the LPA has been registered. You can also download them now from GOV.UK.