1 April 2010

 

By Claire Railton, Belinda Strachan and Edward Taylor

 

Accidents happen every day, which is why most of us have insurance for nearly every part of our lives; for your house, car, pets, travel, precious valuables, and so on.

 

Have you ever considered what would happen if you were in an accident and unable to manage the various affairs in your life. You might have insurance to cover the costs of such an accident, but who would actually take care of the logistics if you were left incapacitated?

 

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you to plan ahead to protect your assets by appointing someone of your choice to act as your attorney for such a time in the future when you may not be able to deal with things yourself. It is the only legal document you can now create to appoint someone to deal with your property and affairs (and health and welfare) under any circumstances, including loss of mental capacity.

 

Many people assume that an LPA is for someone over a certain age and relate them to being used when someone is suffering from an illness associated with old age. However, you never know at what age you may lose mental capacity. If, for example an accident left you in a coma for a long period of time, someone would have to look after all the financial affairs and health and welfare issues that would arise.

 

Everyone owns some kind of assets, whether it's just a small amount of savings in a bank account or a huge business empire.   No one, not even your spouse or business partner has the automatic right to deal with your assets if you lose mental capacity.

 

Our team of LPA specialists have the knowledge and experience to guide you through the process of creating an LPA tailored to your circumstances.  Contact us for more information or to book an appointment.