Lasting powers of attorney

[kestrelg]

It has been suggested that my wife and I should complete "Lasting power of attorney " documents to avoid any problems should we become incapacitated.
Is this something we can do simply or must it involve expensive solicitors bills.

[dzug]

There's no problems whatsoever in preparing the documents themselves. The forms and guidance documents can be downloaded free from the public guardian website and can be registered (they have to be registered before they can be used) for £120 per document.

Depends on how confident you feel about what you are doing as to whether to involve a solicitor - it's not mandatory to do so.

[Buenchico]

There are two types of LPA. One relates to property and financial affairs. The other relates to health and welfare issues. You can choose whether to create just one type of power of attorney, or both of them.

You don't need to use a solicitor but you do need to register any LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian. (If you don't register the documentation it will have no legal validity).

The Office of the Public Guardian offers two separate packs (one for for each type of LPA), containing all of the relevant forms, together with guidance notes. They're packaged as zip files, so you'll need to 'unzip' them once you've downloaded them. (As long as you're using Windows XP, Vista or 7 you'll just need to double-click on a file to start the unzipping process).

See here:
http://www.publicguar...rms/Making-an-LPA.htm

Chris

[humpy07]

Both Dzug and Buenchico are correct in that you can prepare the application yourself, but it is no longer as easy a process as the previous Enduring Power of Attorney form. My old firm charged about £350 for completing and registering the power, as opposed to about £70 for the old EPA.

[kestrelg]

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses and we can now decide what action to take. the one sure thing is that it is going to cost.