What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney and should you have one in place?
At some point in the future you may not be able to make your own decisions. A Lasting Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone to make decisions on your behalf. There are separate LPAs for financial affairs and for health and welfare. They can only be set up by you whilst you can understand what you are doing.
What might happen if I don't have a lasting power of attorney in place?
If you become unable to make your own decisions, things can become very complicated for your loved ones. Those looking after you may need to go through the Court of Protection to deal with your affairs. The BBC One Show video below shows how hard things became for Heather Bateman managing her husband's affairs.