Property and Affairs LPAs
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Assistance and advice- Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)
- Property and Affairs LPAs
There are two options to choose from:
Either - the 'now' option
- Enables your attorney to assist with your property and finances straightaway, before the onset of any mental or physical incapacity e.g. when you are out of the country
Or - the 'later' option
- Complete your LPA, but don't register it. Your LPA will be kept with your solicitor, or in a safe place, so that registration is only completed if you go on to lack capacity in the future
On this page:
Who can set up an LPA?Who can be an attorney?
What about next of kin?
Who judges 'mental capacity'?
How much does an LPA cost?
The importance of registration
Anyone aged 18 or over can set up an LPA.
You need to decide who you'd like to be your attorney.
Your attorney can be any individual aged 18 or over and of sound mind. For property and affairs LPAS, your attorney cannot be an undischarged or interim bankrupt.
Alternatively, you can appoint a Trust Corporation as one of your attorneys, if you wish.
If you have more than one LPA, e.g. a Property and Affairs LPA and a Personal Welfare LPA, you can have the same or different individual attorneys for each.
You can also have more than one attorney, in which case, you must decide whether they work as 'joint attorneys' (i.e. acting together), or as 'several attorneys' (i.e. acting independently).
Currently, you cannot make changes to an LPA once it is registered. So it's best practice to name a replacement attorney in case your original attorney is unable to act on your behalf.
You will also need to think about who you'd like to be notified when the registration is taking place. These named people will then be informed by the Public Guardian when registration has been applied for to make sure your best interests are adhered to.
Your relatives are not entitled to be notified unless they are the named people in your LPA document, so it's important that you name everyone you trust.
Some people assume that their next of kin would automatically look after their property and financial affairs if they were to become incapacitated.
However, there is no legal right for the next of kin to access a person's bank accounts or to deal with their property and even joint accounts can be frozen.
The responsibility for determining whether you have mental capacity rests with the person directly concerned with you at the time.
For example, a solicitor would assess your capacity to instruct them on a legal matter but day-to-day welfare decisions may fall to family members, care workers or medical staff.
Where capacity is an issue, it must be determined on a 'decision specific' basis. So, it is only if you cannot make a particular decision for yourself that your attorney can act for you.
For example, managing a complicated investment portfolio may not be possible, but running a current account might be.
Your attorney must act in your best interests at all times, taking into account your age, past wishes, beliefs and values.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out five statutory principles relating to the assessment of capacity and how they should be applied. There is further guidance in the Code of Practice. This helps attorneys to assess whether a person lacks capacity to take a particular decision at a particular time.
A solicitor can complete the LPA form for you.
If you have a family solicitor you may wish them to do this. Alternatively, you can choose to complete the forms yourself.
LPA forms are available from the Office of the Public Guardian: www.publicguardian.gov.uk
In order for the LPA to be complete, a qualified individual, such as a doctor, a solicitor, a social worker or an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate, must confirm that you have mental capacity at the time you sign the document.
You'll also need to pay for the certificate to be witnessed by a qualified individual. These costs may vary, so it's worth shopping around.
The importance of registration
Once the document has been witnessed, your LPA must be registered with the Court of Protection at a cost of £150 per registration.
Without registration, it will not be valid.
Please bear in mind that once your LPA is registered it cannot be changed.
However, you can revoke an LPA at any time, providing you still have mental capacity.
Enables your chosen attorney to:
Claim benefits on your behalf
Open, operate or close accounts
Pay household expenses
Pay for day-to-day needs
Pay for medical or residential costs
Buy, sell or mortgage a property