Lasting Powers of Attorney - Personal Welfare

This is a document which enables you to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf about your personal welfare. This includes whether to give or refuse consent to medical treatment on your behalf and deciding where you live. It is known as a "LPA".

• You can appoint your spouse, partner, relative, a friend or your Solicitor to be your Attorney.
  
• You can appoint more than one Attorney. They can be appointed "jointly" which means they all have to sign any documents or "jointly and independently" which means that any one of them can sign.
  
• You can appoint a Replacement Attorney should any of your original Attorneys be unable to act.
  
• Your Attorneys can only make decisions on your behalf when you lack the capacity to make them yourself, perhaps because of ill health or the onset of dementia.
  
• The LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used.
  
• It is possible to restrict your Attorney's powers, for example, they may not be able to make decisions about the treatment of a particular illness you may have.
  
• In the LPA you must specify whether you want your Attorneys to have the authority to give or refuse consent to life - sustaining treatment on your behalf.
  
• You can also give guidance in your LPA which your Attorneys should take into account when making decisions on your behalf.
  
• You can choose up to five people to be notified when an application to register your LPA is made. They can object if they feel, for example, you were put under undue pressure to complete the LPA. This is an important safeguard.
  
• When you complete the LPA an independent person (known as a "Certificate Provider") must sign to confirm that you understand the nature of the LPA. This is another important safeguard.
  
• If you wish your Attorneys to make decisions regarding your financial affairs, you would need to complete a Lasting Power of Attorney - Property and Affairs, which is a separate document.

We will complete the LPA for a fixed price which we will agree with your beforehand.

For further information speak to a member of our Private Client Team.

Nick Penwell at Exeter - N.Penwell@dunnandbaker.co.uk
Dan Pollard at Exeter - D.Pollard@dunnandbaker.co.uk
Melissa Down at Exeter - M.Down@dunnandbaker.co.uk

Julia Green at Cullompton - J.Green@dunnandbaker.co.uk