The lasting power of attorney is a document that is created by the will of the principal in which the principal himself/herself decides to give the authority to someone else to act on his/her behalf. After assigning someone as the representative for the principal, that representative has the complete or limited authority to make decisions on the behalf of the principal. It is given in the LPA that if the following person is provided with the complete authorities or with limited authorities. So, if the principal wants some help in making decisions or wants someone else to make decisions for him/her then the LPA is the way to do so.
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Lasting Power of Attorney:
For creating an LPA, the principal has to choose one or more than one attorney in fact. After selecting the agent, the principal has to fill the LPA form to assign them as the attorney. Then, at last, the principal has to submit and register the form to the public guardian office. This is a long procedure that can take up to 10 weeks for completion. The general lasting power of attorney cost is £82 unless the principal has some exemption.
If the principal is mentally fit and wants to end the LPA then there is another legal procedure for this. The principal needs to send the original LPA along with a revocation deed to end the LPA. Other than this, there are some circumstances in which the LPA ends by itself.
- If the attorney is your spouse and your civil relationship ends,
- If the attorney becomes incapacitated or if the attorney loses powers to make decisions (unsounded mind),
- If the attorney is removed by the court itself,
- If the attorney is declared as insolvent or bankrupt,
- Or, if the attorney dies,
If the attorney dies then the principal has to send a copy of the death certificate of attorney along with an address of the principal where they can send the documents back and all the certified copies of LPA with the original LPA.
Other than this, let’s talk about the types of LPA. There are two types of LPA’s:
- Health and Welfare LPA
- Financial Affairs and Property LPA
In the lasting power of attorney health and welfare, the attorney is authorized to make decisions on the health and medical activities of the principal. This LPA comes into action when the principal is not able to make the decisions.
In the property and financial affairs LPA, the attorney has the power to make all financial and property-related decisions on the basis of the principal. The attorney has the power to trade stock, withdraw & deposit cash, buy & sell assets, and anything related to finance and property. If the attorney in fact suffer any kind of loss or made any mistake then the principal is fully liable for all the decisions, losses, and mistakes made by the agent. The agent has nothing to do with liabilities.
Enduring Power of Attorney:
Under the English law, the EPA or you can call it the Enduring Power of Attorney is a legal document which grants permissions to act on someone else’s behalf in managing the financial and legal activities. EPA’s signed before 1 Oct 2007 are considered valid because, after this given date, no new EPA’s can be signed.