Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power Of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets a person (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help them make decisions or to make decisions on their behalf.

Requirements:

The person must:

• be 18 years or over and
• Have mental capacity – the ability to make one’s own decisions – at the time of making a Lasting Power of Attorney.

There are 2 types of LPA:

• health and welfare( e.g. the appointed attorney(s) can make decisions regarding ones daily routine, medical care, life-sustaining treatment)

This type of LPA can only be used when a person is unable to make their own decisions.

• Property and financial affairs (e.g. the appointed attorneys can make decisions about money and property on ones behalf such as managing bank/ building society account, selling of property, payment of bills.

The second type of LPA can be uses as soon as it is registered; with the person (donor’s) permission.

You can choose to make one type or both.

Registering a LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian, can usually take up to 10 weeks.

Attesting, Apostilling and authorisation of Power of Attorneys

Here at Kingdom Solicitors, our professional solicitors, can attest a Power of Attorney. In the event that the Power of Attorney is needed abroad. It is required to apostille the document(s) (get the relevant documents legalised at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and then authorised by the relevant authority/High Commission in that country.

Our services

Kingdom Solicitors can help to make an application for lasting power of attorney(LPA) on your behalf.  The process of applying for power of attorney will vary depending whether the applicant has the mental capacity at the time of making the LPA application.  Our Solicitors can explain and prepare the power attorney document and register the document. Our Solicitors are experienced in drafting power attorney application along with advising you on whether you  fulfil the requirement to apply for a LPA

Timescale

The timescale from taking your instructions to registering someone as your attorney will vary depend on the complexity of your matter and any issues that may arise during the process of your application, which could naturally prolong the application and registration stage. After, applying for registration for your LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian it take up to 20 weeks to register your LPA

Key stages

The keys stages will vary depending on whether you have the mental capacity at the time of making an applying for the power of attorney. The following are some key stages

• Taking instructions and advising accordingly
• Preparation of the power of attorney and requesting evidence from you in support of your application
• Submission of your application

Our fees

For lasting power of attorney(LPA)  applications we charge a fixed fee for preparation and submission of your application. You can find information on the fees that we charge for preparation and submission of a power of attorney application by clicking here. Our fees are clear and are easy to understand.  However, please bear in mind that for an additional work separate fees will be payable. Please note, that working on your matter for a fixed fee may not always be possible due to the complexities of your matter.  However, please be reassured that we will provide you a detailed quotation on the fees payable so that you are completely aware of the legal fees and any other fees such as disbursements. It vital to us that you understand the legal fees so that  they are fully transparent to you.

Please contact us on info@kingdomsolcitors.com or 020 7650 7950 for more information.