The Importance of Power of Attorney in the Modern World

Continuity

There are many aspects of our lives which can be affected negatively if there is nobody officially authorised to make decisions upon our behalf. For example, if we share a property with another person, then we subsequently lose our mental capacity, our property co-owner can no longer obtain our consent to sell or refinance that property, which could effectively lock both parties into retaining a property which may not serve our best interests in relation to a failing health condition. If we own property in our sole name, then we may be forced by a local authority to sell our property as quickly and cheaply as possible to facilitate the payment of our required care. If we are wrongly denied free healthcare, we would lack the mental capacity to appeal against any incorrect denial of such free healthcare. If we continue to run a business, it is likely that we will then be unable to continue to pay staff wages and invoices, along with other important and necessary business expenses.

If there is no official Power of Attorney already in place (generally known as Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)) and we lose our mental capacity to make our own decisions, then nobody else is authorised to act on our behalf in our place. In which case, someone close to us would need to undertake a potentially lengthy court process to obtain LIMITED decision-making power regarding many important aspects of our ongoing personal and/or business life.

However, if we have previously arranged court registered LPA before we subsequently lose our mental capacity to make our own decisions, then our selected (by us) appointed “Attorneys” (decision makers) may begin to act immediately on our behalf after we have lost our mental capacity, without having to contact or pay a court; thus maintaining seamless continuity of all our important affairs. 

LPA usually takes approximately 3 months to be registered by the court after we and our chosen Attorneys have signed the relevant documentation, and this has been submitted to the court for approval. 

Cost

When using TRF Wills to help you arrange your LPA, the maximum cost for anyone would be £333.00 (including court fees and NO VAT) whilst you maintain your mental capacity. There would be NO subsequent costs or delays for your Attorneys if you subsequently lose your mental capacity.

Someone applying to a court on your behalf AFTER you have lost your mental capacity would currently (as of 1^st May 2025) cost the applicant between £408 and £1,804 initially, with potential additional court fees, together with ongoing annual insurance costs and annual administration costs of between £35.00 and £320.00, all without guarantee of success.

Peace of Mind

Once LPA has been registered, there are no further potential complications, costs, or delays regarding whether our chosen Attorneys can act on our behalf to serve our best interests if we are ever unable to do so for ourselves.  Whereas, relying upon a court process after we have lost our mental capacity can be fraught with risk, delays, expense, and uncertainty.

However, if we officially appoint our selected Attorney(s) in advance of a potential subsequent loss of our mental capacity, those Attorneys have no power and cannot overrule our own decisions in the meantime.  Their decision-making power only exists AFTER we lose our mental capacity (if ever), OR if we give those Attorneys express permission to act on a case-by-case basis whilst we maintain our mental capacity (e.g. extended lengths of time we may spend abroad or be unavailable).

Summary

As we cannot arrange LPA AFTER we have lost our mental capacity and our chosen appointed Attorneys are legally obliged to ALWAYS serve our best interests, why would anyone risk waiting to arrange their LPA until it may be too late?

For further details, WITHOUT consultation fees nor obligation, please visit power-of-attorney.

Thank You.