Power of Attorney Solicitors
Ensure your affairs remain in good order
Power of Attorney Solicitors
Too often, discussions around powers of attorney are left until a later stage in life; no matter what age you are, it is important to consider how your financial and medical needs will be met in the future if you lose capacity.
We encourage our clients to consider preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney at the same time they turn their mind to preparing a Will with us. Talking to our power of attorney solicitors about these important legal documents at an early point in life will significantly reduce the stress that can be associated with the process, giving you and your family much-needed peace of mind.
It is important to consider the fact that no individual has the ability to make decisions on behalf of another without first being appointed as their attorney under either a Lasting Power of Attorney or Enduring Power of Attorney or as a court-appointed Deputy (see below). Even married couples or those in civil partnerships are unable to make decisions for their spouse or partner without these authorities in place.
Lasting Powers of Attorney enable attorneys to make decisions relating to your financial affairs as well as your personal health and welfare on your behalf if you become unable to make those decisions yourself. Your attorneys can step in when needed to ensure your affairs remain in good order and to protect your assets together with articulating your personal wishes when it comes to the type of medical treatment you receive.
Why Choose Shakespeare Martineau?
Making attorney arrangements and preparing the forms themselves can be challenging, but the process is made much simpler with the guidance and counsel of our specialist power of attorney solicitors. There are plenty of other advantages to choosing Shakespeare Martineau for your Lasting Power of Attorney preparation:
- We can help you consider your options at an early stage and put documents in place to ensure you’re supported by the people you choose if you lose capacity. By getting to know you and your personal circumstances, we can provide pragmatic and frank advice about potential issues that may arise should you select unsuitable attorneys
- We’ll ensure you understand the significance and importance of the documents and the level of authority being placed on your attorneys to help you make reasoned decisions regarding who you appoint into the role and importantly, how they are to make decisions on your behalf
- We can prepare specialist Lasting Powers of Attorney enabling your attorney to manage your business affairs should you need to separate this decision-making process from your own personal matters.
- It may be that you need to secure short-term support from an attorney to assist you with a particular transaction, for example, completing a property sale or purchase on your behalf while you are out of the country. In these situations, we will prepare a General Power of Attorney as a solution.
Appointing Objective Attorneys
We appreciate that appointing the right attorneys can be a very difficult process and you may not be able to select appropriate attorneys from amongst your family or friends. In such circumstances, it might be appropriate to appoint a partner from within our specialist power of attorney team to act in this role, ensuring a professional and objective approach is taken to managing your financial affairs.
What Is an Enduring Power of Attorney?
Enduring Powers of Attorney were the predecessors to Lasting Powers of Attorney. It is not possible to create new Enduring Powers of Attorney but those already put in place continue to be legally effective. We can assist your attorneys to register the document with the Office of the Public Guardian so they can assist you in the event of mental incapacity.
The way we help you
We can act in a number of ways, from an advisory role around the creation of powers of attorney and ensuring they are drafted in a suitable way to cater for your needs, right through to stepping in as your professional attorney if this is a service you require.
All of our advice is borne out of listening closely to your individual circumstances. We understand that facing up to the consequences of mental capacity issues can be a stressful and emotional time, and we’re here to put a plan in place which works for you, affording you complete peace of mind.
Your journey through the legal process
Not everyone is aware of how the process of engaging power of attorney solicitors works, so we’ve provided an overview below to give you some peace of mind:
- Once you’ve submitted a contact form via the enquire now panel to the right of this page, a member of our team will call you back to discuss your enquiry
- You’ll then receive an initial consultation within 24 hours via Zoom or telephone to understand in more detail the issues you’re facing
- Should you then decide that you wish to use our services, you’ll receive a breakdown of all our costs and a pack of on-boarding documents. We will work closely alongside you to ensure that whichever private client service you are interested in we are here to support you and find you the right solution
To find out more and how we could help contact us today or call us on 0800 689 0746 for a free confidential consultation.
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Frequently asked questions
We've put together a short list of commonly asked questions to help you understand more about powers of attorney.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.
Meet the team
Our team of experts are here to help you navigate through your private client matters contact us today or call us on 0800 689 0746 for a free confidential consultation.
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