If you’ve made a Will, you understand the importance of protecting your family and assets in the event of your death. However, illnesses and accidents can also lead to you being incapacitated or unconscious, and in this case, your Will has no effect, and your family and assets will be at risk. You’ll also be at risk because your family do not automatically have the right to look after you or make important decisions on your behalf without a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). These decisions will be made by social services and the state, leaving your family unable to look after you properly or access any assets, policies and bank accounts that are in your name.
If accident or illness was to strike, leaving you incapacitated either temporarily or long-term, it’s important you have an LPA in place to protect your family and assets, and to ensure you’ll always be looked after by the people who love you. In this guide, we’ll explain what an LPA is, how it can protect your family and assets, and how it can protect YOU.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a document that gives your chosen attorney(s) the power to make important decisions on your behalf if you’re ever unable to do so yourself due to illness or injury. An LPA has to be made before you lose your mental capacity, but it won’t come into effect until you need it to. There are two types of LPA, one gives your attorney(s) the power to make decisions regarding your health and welfare, and the other allows them to handle your finances and property. To learn more about what an LPA is and how they work click here.
How Can a Lasting Power of Attorney Protect My Family and Assets?
Those who know about LPAs usually think of them as a way of protecting themselves, but if you’ve made a Will to protect your family and assets once you die, you may be more interested to learn that an LPA can protect your loved ones whilst you’re still alive. Many families rely on property, cars, policies, and bank accounts that are in one family members name. If you were to become incapacitated due to illness or injury, your family may not be able to access crucial policies and accounts without going through lengthy, complex and costly court procedures. This could cause a lot of pain, confusion, and stress at what will already be a very hard time for your family.
It’s important you make an LPA to give your loved ones the power to access all the property, assets, policies, and bank accounts they rely on instantly and seamlessly if you’re ever incapacitated due to illness or injury.
How Can a Lasting Power of Attorney Protect Me?
If you’ve made a Will, you’ve done a good thing to protect your loved ones once you die – now it’s time to protect YOURSELF whilst you’re still alive by making an LPA. Illness and injury can strike at any age, which could mean you’re suddenly unable to make important decisions about your health, welfare, property and finances. You may assume that your loved ones will be there to look after you, but even your closest relatives won’t automatically have the legal right to do so – this includes your spouse, parents, children, and friends. The default position is that social services and the state will handle your affairs, meaning you could end up living somewhere you don’t want to live or not receiving the medical treatment you would like. Everything from your day-to-day living standards right through to your property and finances could be handled by people you have never met.
Hopefully, your condition would only be temporary, but it’s still important to give your chosen attorney(s) the power to look after you and to ensure decisions are always made in your best interests. Making an LPA will give them these powers, so you can be cared for by the people who love you instantly and seamlessly in your time of need.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve made a Will, you’ve done the right thing to ensure your family and assets are protected when you pass away. A Lasting Power of Attorney acts as the other side of this coin, offering a form of protection to your family and assets whilst you’re still alive. It can also protect YOU if you’re ever unable to make important decisions for yourself, regarding your health, welfare, property and finances. Illness and injury can strike at any age, and thousands of families each year experience the pain, confusion, and expense caused by not having an LPA in place. You must make you’re LPA whilst you still have the mental capacity to do so – by the time families wish they had one it’s often too late. Read Good Morning Britain host, Kate Garraway’s, story about how not having an LPA has affected her family.
Making an LPA is equally as important as making a Will – your family will thank you for making them both, and you’ll have the peace of mind you need to get on and enjoy life. Here at Michael Usher Wills & Estate Planning, we’ve been helping our local community with LPAs for 30 years. Get in touch and our friendly team of experts will answer all of your questions for free. Please call us on one of the numbers below or book a FREE consultation here. We look forward to helping you and making sure you and your family are fully protected.
Camberley: 01276 691979
COVID-19 Update
Due to the current situation, you are now able to make an LPA with us remotely for your own safety and convenience. The article below details how this works for our Wills service but the process is very similar when making an LPA. The only difference is that you require just one witness when signing your LPA – we can act as your witness if you need us to. If you would like to make your LPA remotely, click on the article below for more information or call us and we’ll explain how it works.
