Whenever we spot a new wrinkle or grey hair, we often pause for a moment and consider how the years are rolling by.  Most of us at some point will also worry about how our health might deteriorate in our later years.

In a recent study by Irwin Mitchell, 75% of respondents said they worried about getting older and 70% were specifically concerned about developing dementia. Surprisingly, despite these worries, only 5% had made any plans to deal with such an eventuality.

When someone develops an illness such as dementia, or is involved in an accident that takes away their mental capacity to make decisions for themselves, someone else needs to make decisions for them – but nobody has the automatic right to do so.  Neither your spouse, partner or children, nor your closest friends and relatives can make decisions for you, unless you have specifically given them permission in advance – in the form of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

LPAs are documents you make to appoint people to manage your affairs and make decisions in your best interests should you lose mental capacity.  They come as a pair – one looks after your ‘Property & Financial Affairs’ – your assets, the other looks after your ‘Health & Welfare’ – You!

An LPA can only be made while you have the mental capacity to do so. If you lose capacity to make your own decisions and there are no LPAs in place, your loved ones will need to apply to the Government’s Court of Protection to appoint a Deputy to make your decisions for you. They can apply to be appointed as your Deputy, but it will be the Court that makes this decision rather than you, and there is no guarantees they will appoint the people you would choose.

It can cost between ~£500 – £1500 to get a pair of LPAs drafted – depending on who you use, and a further £82 per LPA to register them for use with the Office of the Public Guardian.  On the other hand, the costs for setting up a Deputyship via the Court of Protection are more expensive.  The application fee is £400 for each type of Deputyship: ‘Property & Financial Affairs’ and ‘Health & Welfare’.  An appeal, if required, is another £400, and if the court decides a hearing is required, that’s a further £500. In addition, there is an assessment fee of £100 for each new Deputy and an annual Supervision Fee, in addition to various other administrative fees, and further ‘application’ fees when the Deputies have to request permission to spend money and make decisions on your behalf which fall outside the Court appointed Deputy’s authorised actions…

No-one likes to consider what may befall them in the future, but it’s much easier job to plan for if done in advance.  The financial and emotional cost for your family to deal with it after the event can be significant.  Perhaps most importantly of all, LPAs allow the individual concerned to document their wishes around what happens to them at a later date and decide who will make those decisions on their behalf.

Heir Tight Wills helps clients put in place robust provisions and valid documents, to protect their loved ones and their assets both during their lifetime and after their death.  For a FREE Consultation to discuss writing or updating your Will & estate planning provisions, contact Rachael Rodgers on 0845 519 7585, or CONTACT US via email.