A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you to plan for the future by giving someone (your attorney or attorneys) authority to make certain decisions on your behalf.

A professionally drafted LPA provides reassurance that your finances and/or healthcare will be taken care of by someone you know, and trust, should there be a time when you are not able to make important decisions about these matters yourself.

There are two types of LPA:

• Property and Financial Affairs LPA: gives your attorney authority to deal with your property and finances
• Health and Welfare LPA: gives your attorney authority to deal with health, welfare and care decisions such as medical treatment, or where you want to live. If you specifically authorise it, this can even extend to making decisions about giving or refusing life-sustaining treatment.

Both types of LPA give your attorney authority to make decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity to do so for yourself.  However, an important difference between the two types is that a Health and Welfare LPA can only be used after you lose capacity, whereas the Property and Financial Affairs LPA can also, if you wish, be used by your attorney whilst you still have full capacity. This can be helpful if you should need short-term assistance at any time, such as with taking care of your finances whilst you are in hospital, or even whilst you take an extended holiday.

To make an LPA you need to be over 18 years of age and have sufficient mental capacity to do so.

It is often possible to make an LPA even after receiving a diagnosis of dementia, especially in the early stages of the condition. In these circumstances, however, we usually recommend that you instruct us to obtain a certificate of capacity from a suitably qualified medical expert to safeguard you against any future allegation that your new LPA is invalid due to lack of understanding.

You can appoint as many attorneys as you wish. Generally, people appoint between one and four. But please note that, if you only appoint one attorney, your LPA will end if they die or become permanently unable or unwilling to act for you, so you should consider also appointing a replacement so you have another trusted person who can step in if that should happen.

An LPA lasts for your whole lifetime unless you revoke (cancel) it.

Yes. Before an LPA of either type can be used, it has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. We attend to this on your behalf as part of our standard service.

The cost depends on the complexity of the work required. After a no-obligation discussion of your wishes and circumstances, we will explain the likely costs and, if required, provide information about the available funding options.

We will always provide a detailed cost estimate in writing at the outset. This will include our costs for registering your LPA at the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

The OPG charges an application fee, currently £82.00, to register an LPA. You may be exempt from paying this fee in certain circumstances and we will advise on whether this applies to you.

Yes, absolutely. You can continue to manage your own affairs for as long as you have the capacity to do so.

An Enduring Power of Attorney, validly made before 1st October 2007, can still be used but only in respect of your property and financial affairs. If you wish to also give authority for your health and welfare, you will need to make a Health and Welfare LPA as well.

If you lack the capacity to make a decision, then it may be necessary for someone to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order. A deputyship order appoints another person to make decisions on your behalf. However, the application process is intrusive, costly and time-consuming and, most importantly, you will not be able to choose who is appointed.

Our legal experts have many years of experience in advising on LPAs and the enduring powers of attorney that came before them. We will discuss your particular wishes and family circumstances before advising on the many ways an LPA can help to protect you and your family.

We understand that the process can be daunting, but our friendly team will guide you sympathetically and sensitively through the entire process. We will complete the necessary paperwork for you and keep you regularly updated along the way.