Do You Need to Make a Health & Welfare LPA and a Property & Financial LPA?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a type of legal document called a power of attorney. These documents are legal mechanisms that allow you to grant permission to someone else to allow them to make decisions on your behalf.

The person who makes a power of attorney is known as the donor, and the person that decision-making powers are granted to is known as the attorney.

Different types of power of attorney documents are needed in different situations. Health & Welfare Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are specifically designed to support individuals in situations where they no longer have the capacity to make decisions for themselves. Property & Finance Lasting Powers of Attorney can be used once the donor no longer has capacity, though they can also be used before this if the donor consents to it.

This could be due to a temporary loss of capacity, due to a severe mental health crisis, an accident or a short term illness. Alternatively, it could be due to a more permanent loss of capacity, often due to a condition such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

Why might you need an LPA?

People often decide to put an LPA in place later in life. This can be a very sensible precaution, as none of us really know what might be ahead. Writing a Lasting Power of Attorney while you are able to do so means that if you were to lose mental capacity in the future, the person (or people) you have nominated to act on your behalf would be able to step in right away, without the need to apply for permission from the Court of Protection.

However, there are all kinds of scenarios where an LPA might be crucial for younger people, too. Unfortunately, accidents, brain injuries, illnesses and significant mental health crises can affect people at any age. Not having the appropriate legal documentation in place could mean that those closest to you would not have the legal power to handle your affairs on your behalf while you were unable to do so yourself.

Why are there different types of LPAs?

There are two different types of Lasting Power of Attorney:

1. Health & Welfare
2. Property & Financial

We are often asked whether people really need to make both, or whether one or the other will do. Obviously this depends on your individual circumstances and what your priorities are, but in the majority of cases it makes sense to put both types of LPA in place, not just one or the other.

The main reason that there are two types of LPA is that appointing someone close to you to make health and welfare decisions on your behalf is a very different prospect from appointing someone to manage your finances and handle bills.

With this in mind, it makes sense to separate the two concerns out into two distinct legal documents. This allows greater flexibility, and ensures that you are able to make your wishes known. You can choose to appoint the same attorney or attorneys in both LPAs or to appoint different ones.

What are Health & Welfare LPAs for?

Health & Welfare LPAs are designed to allow you to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your medical and day-to-day care.

This could include things such as:

• Whether to agree to life-sustaining medical treatment.
• Where you should live, e.g. staying in your own home or moving into a care home.
• Every day decisions such as what you wear or what you eat.
• How carers should be caring for you.

If there are certain decisions within the umbrella of health and welfare that you do not want to grant your attorney, you can make this clear in the legal document. For example, you can choose whether or not to allow your attorneys the power to refuse life-sustaining treatment on your behalf.

What are Property & Financial LPAs for?

Property & financial LPAs are designed to allow you to appoint someone you trust to handle your financial affairs on your behalf.

This could include things such as:

• Handling the payment of bills.
• Collecting benefits.
• Maintaining your property.
• Deciding whether to re-mortgage, rent out or sell your property.
• Managing an investment portfolio.

Giving reasonable financial gifts on your behalf to mark customary occasions such as births, weddings and graduations.

Again, if there are certain things you do not want your attorney to be able to have the power to do, you can make this clear in the LPA. This means that you could grant your attorneys the power to do certain tasks on your behalf – such as handling bills and remortgaging your property – but not grant them the power to make certain decisions, such as selling your property or making changes to your investment portfolio.

What's right for you?

The right kind of LPA for you will depend on all kinds of factors, including:

• The kind of assets you own.
• Your family set up.
• The type of decisions you expect an attorney to have to make on your behalf.
• Any medical conditions you have.

In the majority of cases, we would recommend making both a Health & Welfare LPA and a Property & Financial LPA, as this will ensure that you have plans in place to cover all eventualities.

What if you don't know who to appoint as your attorney?

Not everyone has a family member or friend that they could trust to take on the role of attorney for them. In situations like these, you could consider the possibility of appointing a professional attorney.

This might be the right choice for you if you don't have anyone close to you to ask, or if you aren't confident that those close to you would follow the instructions you have left to them.

A professional attorney such as your solicitor would make all decisions in accordance with the wishes you have recorded. This could enable you to avoid any possible disputes or conflicts between family members, who may have very different ideas about how your care or financial affairs should be handled.

How to get started with an LPA

It's really straightforward to put together both Health & Welfare and Property & Finance lasting powers of attorney. A specialist solicitor will be able to guide you smoothly through the process and ensure that you have covered all bases. Once your LPA has been written, we'd suggest registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian right away. LPAs cannot be used until they have been registered, and the registration process can take months. It's wise to get this part taken care of long before you expect your LPA to be needed.

If you feel that the time is right for you to put an LPA in place, it couldn't be easier to get started. We'd recommend setting up a discovery call with a solicitor to discuss what your ideal Lasting Power of Attorney could look like.

Before your call, you might find it helpful to read our help guide on Lasting Powers of Attorneys.

FAQs

Why do you need a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is an important legal document as it allows you to appoint an individual to make decisions on your behalf should you lose mental capacity and no longer be able to do so. This might be due to a condition such as dementia, or it might be due to a brain injury or significant mental health crisis.

Why are there two different types of LPAs?

The two different types of LPA – Health & Welfare and Property & Financial – allow you to make provisions for decisions to be made on your behalf across two very different aspects of your life. Separating these issues into two different documents means that the legal process can offer even more flexibility to ensure your legal plans truly reflect your wishes.

When should you make an LPA?

Many people choose to make an LPA later in life, but this isn't the only time they can be useful. There are plenty of unexpected life events such as accidents, illnesses and mental health crises when a younger individual might lose mental capacity – either on a short or long term basis – and require someone close to them to step in to make decisions on their behalf. Having an LPA in place in advance of something like this happening would avoid the need to involve the courts.

Do you need to make both types of Lasting Power of Attorney?

Whether or not you choose to make both a Health & Welfare LPA and a Property & Financial LPA will depend on your personal circumstances and priorities. In most cases, we'd recommend making both in order to ensure all your interests will be protected if necessary, but this is up to you.