Powers of Attorney Solicitors
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.
Our experts will guide you every step of the way
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.
What is a power of attorney?
A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets an individual appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to make decisions on your behalf in relation to your property and financial affairs and/or your health and welfare matters. Read our guide on the importance of a lasting power of attorney.
We encourage our clients to consider preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney while 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 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.
We have a free estate planning guide below. Simply fill in your details, download our free PDF guide and read in your own time.
Wherever you are on your journey, our legal advisors can help. Call us today on 0330 024 0333 or use the button below to complete our contact form.Our Powers of Attorney team
How our Powers of Attorney experts can help
Drafting power of attorney
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.
General power of attorney
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.
Prepare a specialist lasting powers of attorney
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.
Understand the role of power of attorney
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.
Why choose Shakespeare Martineau?
- 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.
- 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
- The 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 who will be with you every step of the way.
Powers of Attorney frequently asked questions
There are two types of power of attorney:
- Property and financial
- Health and welfare
If you choose to appoint an attorney(s) to manage both your property and financial affairs and health and welfare matters then you will need to prepare two lasting power of attorney (LPA) deeds – even if you are appointing the same attorney(s) in relation to both types of LPA.
Read our guide on the importance of a lasting power of attorney.
Read our guide on things that can and cannot be done under a power of attorney.Â
Lasting powers of attorney are so powerful, which is why you must appoint an attorney or attorneys that you trust wholeheartedly to make the right decisions for you. Sometimes, contrary to popular belief, family members such as adult children are not always the appropriate people to appoint in the role. We will happily discuss the practicalities and important points to consider when choosing an attorney with you.
We can support you with preparing your LPA deed very quickly. However, if you have appointed more than one attorney or replacement attorneys then the LPA deed will have to be sent to each of them in turn to sign it – which may take a few weeks.
Once all parties have signed the LPA deed and it is submitted to the Office of the Public Guardian, the registration process can take eight to 12 weeks.
Once all the relevant parties have signed your power of attorney deed, it is valid but not effective and it cannot be used by your attorney(s) to help manage your affairs in that state.
In order to ‘invoke’ the power of attorney deed (and make it legally effective), either you or your attorney(s) must apply to register it with the Office of the Public Guardian. Once it is returned, we can store the original registered LPA deed in our strong-room to ensure it is kept safe (you can request this from us at any time).
If your attorneys need it because they need to begin using it, they will need to provide us with their ID and a note from a doctor evidencing your lack of capacity before we will release it to them. We can issue certified copies of the LPA.
What our clients say about us
How the Powers of Attorney process works
Not everyone is aware of how the process of engaging Powers of Attorney solicitors works, so we’ve provided an overview below to give you some peace of mind
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The first stage is to get in touch with us using the button below – you will then be assigned to one of our Powers of Attorney specialists. Alternatively, you can reach us on 0330 024 0333.
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You’ll then receive a free 15-minute consultation within 24 hours via Zoom or telephone to discuss the issues you’re facing.
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You are then provided with a transparent breakdown of our costs and, if you would like to proceed, we send you a pack of onboarding documents
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Following this, we will guide and support you through the process of achieving a resolution that works for you and your family.
Download Our Free Estate Planning Guide Today!
Our guide features the following information to help you in the following areas:
- The benefits of estate planning include wealth preservation, control over assets, avoiding intestacy, protecting vulnerable beneficiaries, business succession, and peace of mind.
- A comprehensive checklist of the documents you will need for estate planning, such as a will, a lasting power of attorney, a trust deed, and a letter of wishes.
- General guidance for different scenarios, such as homeowners, young families, unmarried couples, high net worth families, family businesses, and elderly parents.
- How Shakespeare Martineau can help you with estate planning and what it will cost, as well as providing some important words, helpful resources, and contact details.
After filling out your information, you will receive a PDF guide that you can access anytime, whether you are on the move or have some spare time to review it.
If you’d like to speak to a member of our team, please fill out the enquiry form. We will aim to reply to your query within 2 hours
Need to talk to someone sooner? You can call use at the number below
Call Us: 0330 024 0333
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