The Two Types of LPA
Health & Welfare
This document allows your Attorney to make decisions and act on your behalf with regards to your health and welfare. This can be from your everyday care, e.g. from the food you eat, your daily routine to medical treatment and end of life decisions. It can only be used when you are unable to make your own decisions.
Financial
This document allows your Attorney to make decisions and act on your behalf with regards to your property and financial affairs. This can range from simple decisions about paying household bills and making enquiries with your bank to buying or selling property to managing an investment portfolio. It can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.
It is worth noting that an LPA can take up to 8 - 10 weeks to produce.
It is also therefore worth planning ahead as many people assume that their spouse, partner or child would be able to automatically take over their affairs if they became ill or lost the ability to make their own decisions. This simply is not the case. Forward planning and preparation are everything when it comes to LPA’s as no one can predict the future.
