A power of Attorney is a legal document that enables an individual to appoint another person or more to act on their behalf, and make decisions in their interests. There are two main types of Power of Attorney, Financial & Healthcare.
Mental capacity means to be able to make and communicate decisions when they are required to be made. In order to be deemed to have mental capacity, an individual must understand what the decision they are making, the reason behind this and the consequences of such a decision.
A lasting power of attorney is a tool in order to enable someone to be established as your attorney, and thereby have the legal authority to make decisions on your behalf, should you lose the mental capacity to do so.
A lasting power of attorney can occur in 2 forms.
Lasting Power of Attorney for Financial Decisions & Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Care Decisions.
An LPA for financial decisions can be made whilst you still have mental capacity to do so. This may cover numerous financial decisions such as mortgage payments or investments.
Whereas an LPA for Health & Care decisions can only be made once an individual has lost their mental capacity. This can cover issues such as medical care decisions and social decisions.
It is advised to consult a qualified solicitor in order to setup a lasting power of attorney, as there is standards that should be followed when creating a power of attorney. As you cannot make alterations to an LPA once you have registered it, as this will render it invalid.
You generally cannot make changes to your LPA once it has been registered. However, it may be possible to change an attorney.
Alternatively, if an individual retains their mental capacity, they can have their LPA revoked.