Who’ll manage my money?

The question of who’ll keep our finances in order if we are seriously ill or have lost our capacity to manage them ourselves is a huge one!  It’s important to have someone we trust in control.

Everyone’s heard the scare stories of elderly or vulnerable people being targeted by unscrupulous ‘good samaritans’ who clear out their bank accounts…

It doesn’t have to be that way.

This article explains a bit more about Financial Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).  These are correctly known as Property & Financial Affairs Lasting Powers of Attorney.

If you lose mental capacity to manage your money and don’t have an LPA in place, someone will have to apply to the Court of Protection to be registered as your Deputy.  The Deputy must complete annual accounts and be subject to audit.

The appointment of a Deputy takes months, and costs more than having an LPA registered in advance.
If you put an LPA in place now you can be sure that, when you need them, your chosen attorney will legally be ready to act on your behalf.

So how does it work?

1. Choose carefully

Consider who should be your attorney(s). If you choose more than one, you need to state whether they must agree on a decision, or whether they have the power to act alone.

Bicester Wills Lasting Power of Attorney Costs

For Advice; Preparation of all documents; Acting as Certificate Provider

Lasting Power of Attorney Property and Financial Affairs – £325
Lasting Power of Attorney Health and Care Decisions – £325
Both Personal Lasting Power of Attorney for one person – £500*
Both Personal Lasting Power of Attorney for a couple – £950*

Additional costs:
Office of Public Guardian registration fees: £82 per document**

*No additional discounts may be used alongside this discounted fee
**This is reduced to £41 per document if your income is below £12,000 per year.

Their responsibilities will include collecting your pension, managing your accounts, paying your care bills and, potentially, selling your home.

Ensure your attorneys are happy to act.  Let them know your wishes in regard to your finances, and make a note of this too.  We will want to include any specific instructions in the LPA documentation.

2. Complete the paperwork and register the LPA

We can do this for you, to ensure the application is accurately completed, signed and certified.  We can then arrange for the LPA to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).  The OPG fee for this is £82.00 and the process can take up to 3 months.

3. Storage and amendment of the LPA

Once registered, your attorneys can act on your behalf straight away with your permission.  You may choose not to give permission whilst you retain capacity.  Having your LPA registered does mean that there will be no delay in the ability of your attorney(s) to act should you become incapacitated at any point.

There are costs and specified procedures involved should you wish to amend or revoke your LPA.  Please contact us for advice if you need to do this.