Lasting power of attorney (LPA) has proven popular, with recent figures from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) showing that more than 2.5m LPAs have been registered in England and Wales since they were introduced in October 2007.
LPAs enable people to designate someone they trust to look after their affairs should the time come when they can no longer do so themselves. There are two types of LPA that can be used. One covers health and welfare issues, which includes decisions about medical treatment such as where and how you are cared for. The second type of LPA covers property and financial decisions, which enables the designated attorney to access bank accounts, pay bills or manage property on your behalf.
There are many reasons why someone could choose to put an LPA in place. They might feel a time will come when they lack the mental capacity to make welfare or financial decisions themselves due to conditions such as dementia or depression. They could also be away travelling or in hospital on a long-term basis and need someone they trust to look after their financial affairs while they are away.
However, there have been incidences where people acting as attorneys have stolen money and property from the very people whose affairs they were supposed to protect.
This has prompted Denzil Lush, a retired senior judge with the Court of Protection, to say people need to be made more aware of the risks associated with signing LPAs. He even went as far as to say he would not sign one himself.
One recent case concerned Frank Willett, a Normandy veteran who appointed his neighbour Colin Blake as his attorney when he started suffering from dementia in 2003. Blake then used this power to withdraw large sums of money from Mr Willett’s account. By the time Mr Willetts’ daughter was able to revoke the power of attorney, all of her father’s money was gone, as were his army medals and his deceased wife’s jewellery. Blake was jailed for four and a half years in July.
Mr Lush’s criticism of LPAs is concerning given that he has adjudicated approximately 6,000 power of attorney cases over the course of his career and is the author of the definitive legal guide in this area.
Mr Lush believes that LPAs lack transparency and said that people should consider the alternative option of deputyship. This is where the Court of Protection appoints someone to look after someone’s affairs once they have lost mental capacity. He argues that these deputies are subject to stricter safeguards than attorneys. For example, deputies must send annual reports to the OPG to explain the decisions they have made – attorneys do not have to do this.
Key Points
- LPAs enable people to designate someone they trust to look after their affairs.
- There are also significant drawbacks with deputyship.
- Should some kind of warning system be put in place?
Making LPAs more robust
While the deputyship regime does have more safeguards in place than LPAs, there are also significant drawbacks. The process of becoming a deputy is complex and there are substantial fees that need to be paid. The application fee is £400 and you will need to pay this twice if you wish to become both a property and financial affairs deputy and a health and welfare one. A new deputy will need to pay a £100 assessment fee and general supervision fees of £320 have to be paid annually.
