Do you have a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs? If not, why not? It could save your nearest and dearest so much time and worry in the event that you lose mental capacity in later life or, perhaps, have an accident or illness resulting in brain trauma.
Under the terms of a Property & Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney you can appoint someone you trust to look after your finances in the event you no longer can for whatever reason.
It is doubly important to have a Lasting Power in place if you are a business owner otherwise that business could come to a grinding halt in the event of your loss of capacity or accident which would be catastrophic for you as the business owner and potentially catastrophic for any employees you may have.
Your appointed attorney can pay your bills, invest on your behalf, deal with your pensions and other benefits and, if necessary, sell your home to fund nursing home care.
Would you not rather appoint someone known to you to deal with these important matters than leave it to the Court to perhaps appoint a complete stranger to act on your behalf?
Most nursing homes these days insist on a Lasting Power of Attorney being in place when you take up residence. If you do not have one and it is decided that you no longer have sufficient mental capacity to make one, the only option available is for an application to be made to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order.
A Deputyship Order can (and often does) take up to a year to be granted and is comparatively much more expensive – the court fee for registration of a Lasting Power is £82 whereas the court fee for a Deputyship Order is £400. In addition the Court may not necessarily appoint someone you know to be your Deputy (perhaps someone from the Local Authority Deputyship Team) and under those circumstances, they would make a charge for acting for you!
Court of Protection Deputies have to pay for an indemnity policy annually which is another cost and has to submit annual accounts relating to your affairs to the Court which incurs an annual fee needing to be paid to the Court of Protection.
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