Lasting Powers of Attorney – “More important than Wills”, Martin Lewis says.

On Tuesday night’s show of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Martin Lewis discussed Lasting Powers of Attorney (‘LPAs’), the importance of having them in place and the downsides if you lose mental capacity without one.

In the show aired on the 21st of November 2023, Martin expressed the significance of Lasting Powers of Attorney stating that they are in fact ‘more important than Wills’ in his opinion.

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, Martin asserted that an LPA is not just for the elderly. It is not thought about by many, but if a young person was in an accident, suffered a serious brain injury or stroke it is difficult to sort their finances without an LPA.

Paying bills, a mortgage, selling your property or even simply managing their bank account are not easy to do without an LPA in place. This can increase the strain on an already distressing situation.

Martin himself stated that he has had an LPA in place for over 10 years now, despite the likelihood of him losing his faculties being low. We see an LPA similar to an insurance policy, it may never be needed however if it is, your loved ones will thank you for making things easier for them in an already difficult time.

The key is to act early. You can only put in place LPAs when you have mental capacity. Once you lose capacity, it is too late.

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document which anyone can put in place whilst they still have mental capacity. With an LPA you appoint one or more trusted relatives, friends or professionals to look after your affairs if you were to go on to lose mental capacity.

Whom you appoint is known as your Attorney(s) and they would make decisions for you if you are unable to make specific decisions yourself. You can also appoint replacement Attorneys should anything happen to your appointed Attorneys such as they go bankrupt, disclaim their role, lose their own mental capacity or predecease you.

There are two types of LPAs, one for Property and Financial affairs and another for Health and Welfare decisions.

• Health and Welfare

This allows an Attorney to make decisions concerning your personal welfare and would include decisions about where you are to live, your medical treatment, access to your personal papers and many other matters.

• Property and Financial

This allows an Attorney to make decisions about all of your financial and property matters such as running your bank and savings accounts, paying bills, selling your property.  Limitations can be applied if you do not want them to have such wide powers.

Putting an LPA in place now does not mean that you are losing control. They can only be used at your discretion whilst you still have capacity. If you were to lose your faculties other medical institutions would check that this is the case before the LPA can be released to your Attorney(s).

Why should you put in place a Lasting Power of Attorney?

If you or a loved one are to lose mental capacity without setting up an LPA, whoever would want to look after your affairs for you would have to apply to the court for a deputyship to become your deputy. This is a very long, stressful and expensive process with a current time scale of 12 months to be finalised. A deputy is the same as an attorney however they have not been personally nominated by the individual.

If you set up an LPA before you lose capacity, you can nominate a trusted relative, friend or professional to act for you.