People with fire insurance, whose home subsequently burns down, consider such insurance to be a wonderful thing. Those whose home does not burn down, may well consider their insurance contributions to have been a waste of money.
Likewise, the representatives of a person who already has registered Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place when they lose their mental capacity to make decisions, consider this to have been money well spent.
If you own a property or run a business with another person, and that person then loses their capacity to make decisions, this will cause you important problems. Such a loss of mental capacity can arise as a result of accident or illness. Some aspects of joint property ownership or business activity will require both parties’ agreement, which can then become an expensive, time-consuming and inconvenient issue for you if LPA has not already been registered in advance.
Without pre-existing registered LPA, you would then need to apply to the Court of Protection for permission to make limited decisions for the other person. This takes many months, even longer under lock down conditions, and would initially cost a minimum of £830.00, with ongoing minimum annual costs of £335.00. This is presuming that the court eventually grants permission at all, and that no third-party objects to your application for any reason.
In relation to a business, one solution would be to have an official business agreement created through a solicitor in case of such an event. However, this would cost in the region of £1,000 plus VAT. Also, this would not solve any personal issues which would arise resulting from the loss of mental capacity.
A simple and relatively inexpensive solution is to ensure that registered LPA is in place in case someone subsequently loses their mental capacity. This can always be revoked and changed in the event that requirements change, provided mental capacity is maintained whilst undertaking such revocation and amendment.
Through TRF, the maximum cost would be £264.00, and the entire process usually takes no longer than approximately 12 to 16 weeks. Thereafter, if an applicant loses their mental capacity, there would be no further cost and their selected attorney(s) (decision maker(s)) could act instantly and continuously.
TRF can arrange Lasting Power of Attorney for you, and our power-of-attorney page contains further details.
TRF Wills (TRF) was created by Michael Cotterill in 2005. He is a member of the Society of Will Writers and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.