Making a Lasting Power of Attorney is an important piece of forward planning.
But completing the document is only part of the process.
Arguably, the most important decision is who you appoint as your attorney.
After all, these are the people who may eventually have considerable responsibility for your finances, property, health or welfare.
At Your Will Writers, I help clients in Tettenhall and across the wider Wolverhampton area understand their choices before putting an LPA in place.
So, who should you choose?
What Does an Attorney Actually Do?
An attorney is somebody you legally appoint through a Lasting Power of Attorney to make certain decisions on your behalf.
There are two types of LPA:
Property and Financial Affairs
and
Health and Welfare.
The responsibilities differ depending upon which document the attorney is appointed under.
What Can a Financial Attorney Deal With?
Depending upon the authority given and the circumstances, a Property and Financial Affairs attorney could potentially deal with matters such as:
- Bank accounts
- Household bills
- Savings
- Investments
- Pensions
- Benefits
- Property
- Financial paperwork
These can be significant responsibilities.
You are potentially giving somebody access to and authority over much of your financial life.
Trust is therefore essential.
What Can a Health and Welfare Attorney Deal With?
Health and Welfare decisions can be even more personal.
Depending upon your LPA and circumstances, your attorneys may potentially become involved in decisions concerning:
- Where you live
- Your care
- Medical treatment
- Day-to-day welfare
- Care-home arrangements
- Life-sustaining treatment where the LPA gives them the relevant authority
These decisions can arise at extremely difficult times.
You need people who understand you and will take their responsibilities seriously.
The Most Important Quality: Trust
This sounds obvious, but it is worth emphasising.
Do not appoint somebody simply because you feel they expect to be chosen.
Do not appoint somebody purely because they are your eldest child.
Do not automatically appoint every child because you are worried somebody will feel left out.
An attorney is not an honorary position.
It is a position of responsibility.
Ask yourself:
Would I trust this person with my bank account?
Would I trust them to make decisions in my best interests?
Would they respect my wishes even if they personally disagreed?
Those are far more important questions than family hierarchy.
Does Your Attorney Need to Live Nearby?
Not necessarily.
Modern banking, telephone communication and online services make distance less of a barrier than it once was.
However, location can still matter practically.
A Health and Welfare attorney who lives several hundred miles away may find some aspects of the role more difficult than somebody living nearby.
Likewise, managing property and paperwork can sometimes be easier locally.
Distance does not rule somebody out.
It is simply another factor to consider.
Should You Appoint Your Husband, Wife or Partner?
Many people do.
A spouse or partner may know you better than anybody else.
They may already understand:
- Your finances
- Your values
- Your health wishes
- Your lifestyle
- Your preferences
However, it can still be sensible to consider replacement attorneys.
If you are roughly the same age, circumstances could arise where your spouse is unable to act when the LPA is eventually needed.
Planning for that possibility can make the arrangement stronger.
Should You Appoint Your Children?
Adult children are another common choice.
Again, this can work extremely well.
But think about each child individually.
One may be excellent with money.
Another may hate paperwork.
One may live locally in Wolverhampton.
Another may live abroad.
One may be calm under pressure.
Another may find difficult medical decisions overwhelming.
Being your child doesn’t automatically make somebody the ideal attorney.
Do You Have to Treat All Your Children Equally?
No.
This is an area where parents sometimes get uncomfortable.
They may have three children and think:
“If I don’t appoint all three, somebody will be offended.”
But an LPA is about protecting you, not maintaining appearances.
There may be perfectly sensible reasons for choosing one or two children rather than all of them.
That doesn’t mean you love the others any less.
It simply means you are choosing the people best suited to the role.
Can You Have More Than One Attorney?
Yes.
Many people appoint two or more.
The important question then becomes how they should act.
Depending upon how the LPA is structured, attorneys can potentially be required to act:
- Jointly
- Jointly and severally
- Jointly for some decisions and jointly and severally for others
These options have different practical consequences.
What Does Jointly Mean?
If attorneys must act jointly, they need to make relevant decisions together.
That can provide an additional safeguard.
However, it can also create practical difficulties.
If one attorney can no longer act, the effect on the remaining appointments needs to be understood.
This is why choosing how attorneys act should not be treated casually.
What Does Jointly and Severally Mean?
This generally provides greater flexibility.
Attorneys may act together or individually where permitted.
For example, one attorney might be able to deal with a routine banking matter without requiring another attorney to be present.
For many families this can be more practical.
However, the appropriate choice depends on your circumstances.
What About Replacement Attorneys?
Replacement attorneys are people nominated to step in if an original attorney can no longer act.
This can be extremely useful.
An original attorney might:
- Die
- Lose mental capacity
- Become unwilling to act
- Become unable to act
- Experience their own serious health problems
An LPA may remain relevant for many years.
The people you appoint today may be in very different circumstances fifteen years from now.
Replacement attorneys provide another layer of forward planning.
Can You Choose Different Attorneys for Each LPA?
Yes.
You may decide that your son is particularly good with finances and would make an excellent Property and Financial Affairs attorney.
Your daughter may understand your health wishes particularly well.
There is no requirement for the same people to act under both LPAs.
Some clients choose identical attorneys.
Others do not.
The important thing is that the choices make sense for you.
Consider How Your Attorneys Get Along
This can be overlooked.
You may trust two people completely as individuals.
But can they work together?
If your children have a difficult relationship, appointing them jointly could potentially create problems.
An LPA should ideally make decision-making easier, not create a new battleground.
Family dynamics deserve consideration.
Talk to Your Attorneys Before Appointing Them
Ideally, speak to somebody before naming them.
Explain:
- What you are arranging
- Why you want them
- What the role may involve
- What your wishes are
Give them an opportunity to ask questions.
Someone may feel honoured to be asked but uncomfortable taking responsibility for financial decisions.
It is better to discover that now.
Your Attorneys Must Act Properly
Being appointed as an attorney does not give somebody unlimited freedom.
Attorneys have legal duties and must follow the principles applying under the Mental Capacity Act.
They must act in the donor’s best interests when making decisions on their behalf.
Your money does not simply become their money.
Your wishes and interests remain central.
What If You Change Your Mind?
Circumstances can change.
Perhaps you fall out with an attorney.
Perhaps their circumstances deteriorate.
Perhaps somebody you trusted becomes financially irresponsible.
Depending upon the situation and while you retain the necessary capacity, there may be options for changing your arrangements.
This is another reason LPAs should occasionally be reviewed.
LPA Help in Tettenhall
Your Will Writers helps clients throughout Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, Codsall, Perton, Wombourne and Brewood arrange Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Choosing attorneys is one of the areas I spend time discussing with clients.
There isn’t a standard answer.
The objective is to choose people who are right for you.
Appointments can be arranged at your home, at my Codsall home office, or somewhere else locally where you feel comfortable.
Choose People, Not Just Names
An LPA could remain unused for years.
Hopefully, your attorneys never need to make major decisions for you.
But if that day arrives, their role could become extremely important.
Don’t simply fill spaces on a form.
Think carefully about the people behind those names.
Choose individuals you trust.
Choose people who understand you.
Choose people capable of making difficult decisions.
And where appropriate, choose replacements as well.
Because the strength of a Lasting Power of Attorney depends not only on the document.
It also depends on the people you trust to use it.
This article provides general information only and should not be treated as individual legal advice.