How Important is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Posted on 5th March 2017
It is estimated that by 2025, that there will be well over a million people in the United kingdom that will have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or Dementia. The Alzheimer's Society has stated that around one in five people in the United Kingdom over the age of 85 years already have been diagnosed with dementia, and this is going to rise steadily as we are an aging population. Dementia also seems to be a lot higher among women than that of men.
If you do not have Lasting Power of Attorney in place, and you lose mental capacity and are unable to make decisions for yourself, your family and even your spouse will find it virtually impossible to handle your affairs and it will be up to the courts to decide who will then look after your affairs.
Many people think that having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place is just for the elderly and infirm. This is most definitely not the case, an adult with responsibilities and family should have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, accidents and illness can happen at any age.
Putting a Lasting Power of Attorney in place keeps you in control should the worse happen, as you are the one that has chosen who you want to make those all important decisions about your financial affairs and how you should be cared for should the worse happen.
Should the worse happen and you become mentally incapacitated, and you have not got a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, your family could face long delays and a lot of expense trying to get the Court of Protection to give them access to your finances, and it may not be your family that they give this access to, often it can be the Social Services that are given access to your assets and finances.
If you are getting a Will put in place, do the sensible thing and get Lasting Power of Attorney put in place at he same time, no matter what age you are.
Tagged as: Lasting Power of Attorney
Share this post: