How much does it cost to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney?
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Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA)
If you are over 50 and resident in either the UK or Spain and have thought about Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs), you should give Thy Will Be Done (Spain) Ltd a call.
Thy Will Be Done based in Worthing in The UK and Benijofar in Spain specialise in producing the cheapest LPAs for you with the lowest costs and if you have any questions about completing LPA forms or which LPA form you might need, there is a wealth of information on this page (see table of contents directly below). Otherwise, give us a call FREE on 0800 668 11 64, where our experienced staff are ready to assist.
Below you will find sections on;
Why Do I need a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Why do I need a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Martin Lewis explains
The Court of Protection and why you should avoid this route
Why you should choose Thy Will Be Done to provide your LPA
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney and how do I set one up?
How can I be appointed as an Attorney?
What can I do as an Attorney?
What are the limits on what I can and cannot do?
Registration of LPAs with The Office of The Public Guardian (OPG)
How does my appointment end?
Why do I need a Lasting Power of Attorney?
If you were to suffer an accident and subsequently be confined to bed or hospital, contract an illness or have a more serious accident that permanently incapacitated you, or became mentally incapacitated as a result of old age or some other reason, then without an LPA in place, the ONLY way your financial affairs could be managed is by an application (by a relative or someone close to you) being made to the Court of Protection for Deputyship. The applicant to court would need to provide personal information about themselves, their family, their own finances and the relationship they had with the person they wished to help care for. Medical evidence would also need to be obtained. This process costs a considerable amount of money and can take anywhere between 12 weeks and 10 months to complete by which time the donor’s finances could be seriously impacted.
Even worse, a Judge will make the final decision as to who is appointed as the Deputy and this may not be who you would have wished to manage your affairs. The appointment does not even have to be a family member. Preferring to appoint a Panel Deputy (a retired Solicitor or Barrister working for the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) or a local authority) is often chosen by the Judge instead.
The Court of Protection
Whilst the Court of Protection is important to safeguard the interests of people who don't have close friends or family, if you want your loved ones to be able to care for you and make decisions on your behalf, you should ensure that you make an LPA whilst you are still able to do so.
It is currently estimated that 55,000 people are registered with the Court of Protection who are deemed mentally incapable to act on their own behalf. Their affairs are placed under the jurisdiction of the Court.
This would mean that those seeking to care for you, such as your family would have the added stress of having to deal with officials, every time a decision needed to be made. They would also have no official say in any medical treatment for you even when they knew what your wishes would have been.
It is therefore obvious why arranging your LPA's while you have the capacity to do so is strongly advised.
Why should I choose Thy Will Be Done to provide my LPA?
We arrange over 1000 LPAs for our clients every year and do so at the lowest possible prices with the cheapest admin fees and often with free registration. In essence, we are;
Experienced
Reliable
Fast
The cheapest, lowest-priced all round option available locally
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney and how do I set one up?
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) gives a person or persons (known as Attorney(s)) the authority to act for another person (known as the Donor) if the Donor is unable to do so themselves. That authority continues even if the Donor loses the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves.
An LPA for financial decisions gives authority to the Attorney(s) in relation to the Donor's property and financial affairs. It is also possible for a Donor to have a different type of LPA for health and welfare decisions.
Here you will find guidance on:
How you can be appointed as an Attorney to make financial decisions for the Donor. Your role, duties and responsibilities. What you are and are not allowed to do as an Attorney. The registration of LPAs. When your role as Attorney will end.
How can I be appointed as an Attorney?
Qualifications:
An attorney can be anyone that the Donor trusts to act on their behalf.
You do not need any special qualifications, but you must be:
Over the age of 18. Financially solvent (not bankrupt or subject to a debt relief order).
You can refuse to be appointed as an Attorney if you wish (in which case you should not sign the LPA form). If you do decide to accept an appointment, it is important that you feel capable of managing the Donor's affairs for an indefinite period if they are unable to do so themselves. Depending on how complicated the Donor's financial affairs are, this could take a substantial amount of time.
How is an Attorney appointed?
An LPA must be made using a specific form (called an LP1F form). The form must be signed by:
The Donor, in front of a witness. A person who is able to certify that the Donor understands what they are signing (the Certificate Provider). The Attorney(s), in front of a witness.
The LPA form is completed by the Donor (or by a professional on the donor's behalf) and includes your personal details. Once the form is completed, it must be signed in the right order. The Donor must sign first, then the Certificate Provider and then you and any other Attorneys.
When signing the LPA, you are confirming that you have read section 8 of the form (your legal rights and responsibilities) and that you understand your duties and role. You also acknowledge that the LPA must be registered before you can use it.
Joint appointments
It is possible for a Donor to appoint more than one person to act as an Attorney. Replacement Attorneys should also be appointed.
Multiple Attorneys can be appointed in the following ways:
Jointly. If Attorneys are appointed to make decisions jointly, they can only act together. This may prove inconvenient, particularly for day-to-day decisions. The LPA terminates if one of the Attorneys can no longer act (or dies) unless a replacement is named in the LPA.
Jointly and severally. If Attorneys are appointed to make decisions jointly and severally, they may act either together or independently. This provides more flexibility than appointing Attorneys to act jointly and means that the remaining Attorney(s) can continue to act even if one becomes incapable of doing so (or dies). The downside of this flexibility is that one Attorney may act in a way that the other Attorney(s) would not endorse.
Jointly when making some decisions and jointly and severally when making other decisions. This option can provide a compromise between allowing sufficient flexibility for Attorneys to act independently for day-to-day matters and jointly in relation to more important decisions. The Donor specifies which decisions the Attorneys must take jointly.
Solely. Only one Attorney can act for you at any one time and all the others you appoint will be reserves and appointed to act in the order that you specify should anything happen to the Sole Attorney appointed to act or acting at the time.
When discussing your appointment with the Donor, you must ensure that you feel comfortable working with any other people who will also act as Attorneys.
What can I do as an Attorney?
What are my duties as an Attorney?
If the Donor loses mental capacity, you will need to manage their property and affairs and make any decisions that they are unable to make themselves. For example, this might include:
Paying bills. Operating bank accounts. Making investment decisions. Selling property.
The Donor may specify in his LPA that you can act as Attorney even while they still have the capacity to make financial decisions for themselves. This does not mean that you can make all financial decisions for the Donor, it just means that you can act on behalf of the Donor if they allow you to do so at the time. This can be helpful if the Donor is unwell (for example, they are physically unable to get to the bank) or on holiday for an extended period of time.
Will I be paid?
You can recover all of your out-of-pocket expenses from the Donor. Out-of-pocket expenses include, for example, the cost of telephone calls to the Donor, travel to the Donor's bank and postage to pay the Donor's household expenses.
You can only receive fees for acting as an Attorney if the Donor has expressly authorised payment in the instructions section (section 7) of the LPA form. If you do not want to take on the role of Attorney without payment, you should discuss this with the Donor and check the LPA form carefully before signing.
What are the limits on what I can and cannot do?
Restrictions imposed by law under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) covers LPAs and what you can do as an attorney. The MCA 2005 contains the following five important principles that you must observe:
A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that they lack capacity. This means that you must assume that the Donor has capacity to make financial decisions and consider each decision as the Donor makes it, giving them support to make the decisions themselves, if they are able to do so.
A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help them to do so are taken without success. Some people need help to make or communicate a decision. For example, you may need to help the Donor with non-verbal communication (for example, writing down a decision or communicating by sign language) or provide relevant information in a more accessible format. The Donor may have fluctuating capacity so there might, for example, be a particular time of day when it is best to try to help them to reach a decision.
A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because they make an unwise decision. It is important to recognise that the Donor is an individual who may have very different beliefs, values and attitudes to you. This means that they may make a decision that you consider unwise, even though they have capacity to make that decision.
An act done, or decision made, under the MCA 2005 for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done or made in their best interests. This is of fundamental importance and should underpin everything that you do on behalf of the Donor.
Before the act is done, or the decision made, consider whether the purpose for which it is needed can be as effectively achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person's rights and freedom of action. You should always consider whether any act on behalf of the Donor could be done in a less restrictive way.
MCA 2005 is supplemented by the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice. You are legally obliged to consider the Code of Practice that contains helpful guidance for Attorneys and explains how the principles should be applied in practical scenarios. You may find it useful to read Chapter 7 of the Code of Practice before taking up your appointment (see www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice).
Record keeping. You must keep accounts, receipts and records of financial transactions made on behalf of the Donor. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) may ask you to produce these at any time. You should also keep your own finances completely separate from those of the Donor.
Gifts. There are strict limits on the kinds of gift that you can make on the Donor's behalf. For example, you can give birthday, Christmas and wedding presents provided that the gifts are reasonable, giving regard to the Donor's financial resources. You cannot make gifts for inheritance tax planning or pay school fees for the Donor's grandchildren without making an application to court. If you are in any doubt about whether you can make a gift using the Donor's funds, seek professional advice or guidance from the OPG.
Other restrictions imposed by law. If you are an unpaid Attorney, you must apply the same care and skill that you would use to make decisions about your own life. Attorneys who are paid for their services, or claim to have particular skills or qualifications, must show a higher degree of care and skill.
You must also ensure that you:
Do not place yourself in a position where your own personal interests conflict with those of the Donor or where there is a real possibility that this will happen. Do not receive any unauthorised profit from your position as Attorney. Keep the affairs of the Donor confidential. Do not delegate your authority as Attorney to anyone else, although you may take professional advice (for example, from an investment manager if the Donor has given express authority in the instructions box in section 7 of the LPA). Act with honesty.
Donor's instructions.
The Donor can place additional restrictions on your authority in the LPA. These are called instructions and you should check any wording that is included in the instructions box in section 7 of the LPA very carefully before you sign it. Common instructions in an LPA for financial decisions include: Requiring you to submit annual accounts to a person of the Donor's choice. Allowing you to appoint an investment manager to make decisions about the Donor's investments.
Donor's preferences.
The Donor can provide advice in the LPA about how he would like you to manage his affairs. Unlike an instruction, this indicates the donor's preference, rather than something that you must do. For example, it might say that the Donor would prefer you not to invest in tobacco companies or that he would like to keep his current account at a specific bank.
Can I deal with the Donor's business interests?
Generally speaking, a business owner can set up a specific Power of Attorney that enables a chosen individual to just deal with the donor's business interests. A director of a company cannot delegate his powers and responsibilities to an Attorney unless the articles of association of the company specifically allow it.
Who checks that I am acting properly?
Anyone who suspects that an Attorney is not performing his duties properly, or is exploiting or abusing the Donor, can contact the OPG. The OPG then looks into the complaint and may direct one of the team of visitors to visit an Attorney and investigate. In more serious cases, the OPG refers the matter to the Court of Protection.
If you have concerns about a Co-Attorney, you should raise them with the Co-Attorney first and then, if it cannot be resolved, with the OPG.
Am I protected if things go wrong?
If you act in accordance with your legal duties and, in particular, in the best interests of the Donor, then it is very unlikely that you will be criticised for any decisions that you made on behalf of the Donor.
If you act under a registered LPA that turns out to be invalid, you will not incur any liability (to the Donor or anyone else) unless:
You knew that the LPA was invalid. You were aware of circumstances that would have terminated your authority to act under the LPA, if it was valid.
If you have acted improperly:
You may need pay the Donor money to compensate for the Donor's loss.
In the case of ill-treatment or wilful neglect of the Donor, an Attorney can be found guilty of a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to five years.
You could also be charged with fraud.
Please note that our LPA offer for £545 includes registration for everyone regardless of their status. It is not possible to reduce the fee for this offer if you are eligible for a registration discount becuase the pack price is universal for everyone. The following explains the discounts available if you are paying full price for our our LPAs and are not taking advantage of the special offer where everyone pays the same heavily discounted price and we pay for the registrations ourselves. If paying full price for our LPAs then the following applies.
The following Registration of LPAs with the Office of The Public Guardian (OPG)
If you are fit and healthy and have no reason to believe that you will need to use your LPAs any time soon then it may well be a sensible idea to consider delaying their registration and instead opt to store them with.us. The reason for this is that registration costs £82 per power, so in the case of couples, this would be an extra £368 to pay up front for something that may never be needed. Arranging and signing the grants while you have mental capacity is essential and very sensible, however, registering them should be considered carefully as it could prove to be an unnecessary expense if neither or only one party should need them in the future. On the other hand you should also be aware that it can take up to 13 weeks for the OPG to turn registration applications around so if they were needed urgently there could be an issue if they were not already registered. On balance most conditions that may need LPAs to be used are chronic and degenerative so in most cases the need for them could be seen well in advance with the exception of course being with things such as a stroke which can happen at any time and without warning. Whichever way you choose though we do insist that one way or the other is chosen as historically it has been very common for individuals suffering from dementia for example to start to distrust those very people that love them the most and destroy important documents such as Wills and unregistered LPAs so we do insist now that they are either registered with the OPG or stored with ourselves ready to be activated when needed.
If you are in receipt of any State Benefits
It is possible that you may be eligible for an exemption of the registration fee which is payable to the Office of the Public Guardian if you are in receipt of any of the listed benefits below, or a reduction in fees if your income is under £12,000 per year. Therefore, please alert us and we can apply for this on your behalf. You will need to provide us with evidence of your Benefits/income in order for us to do this. Please therefore forward this additional documentation to us when you sign and date this document and return it to us.
Income Support Income-based Employment and Support Allowance Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance Guarantee Credit element of State Pension Credit Housing Benefit Council Tax Reduction/Support – also known by other names (not the 25% single person discount or the Class U exemption) Local Housing Allowance A combination of Working Tax Credit and at least one of: Child Tax Credit Disability Element of Working Tax Credit Severe Disability Element of Working Tax Credit Not included: Disability Living Allowance, Invalidity Benefit, Personal Independence Payment
Exception
If the Donor has been awarded personal injury damages of more than £16,000 which were ignored when they were assessed for one of the above benefits, they will not qualify for exemption.
Supporting evidence for exemption
You need to send copies of letters from a benefit provider showing the donor received at least one of the listed benefits at the time you applied to register. Letters must confirm that the benefit was being paid to the donor and include their printed details (title, full name, address and postcode).
How Is the LPA used after registration?
When you start using the LPA, you may need to provide evidence of your authority to:
Banks. Utility companies. The local authority. Care homes. Other third parties.
The requirements of each individual or organisation vary, for example, some may need to see the original registered LPA while others may only want a photocopy.
You should avoid sending the original registered LPA by post to a third party. Offer to supply an office or certified copy instead. You can get office copies from the OPG at a cost of £35 a document. Alternatively, a solicitor or accountant can certify a copy of the LPA.
How does my appointment end?
Death of donor or attorney
When the donor dies, the LPA automatically comes to an end. Send the original LPA and the death certificate to the OPG as soon as possible.
If you are appointed as a Joint Attorney and one of the other Attorneys dies, your appointment will end unless a replacement is appointed.
Giving up your appointment
You can decide to stop acting as an Attorney at any time. If the LPA is registered, you must send form LPA005 to the OPG to disclaim your appointment. You must also inform:
The Donor.
All other Attorneys.
General Power of Attorney
Firstly and most importantly a General Power of Attorney is NOT a replacement for a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). A General Power of Attorney ONLY deals with finances and is ONLY effective if the donor has mental capacity, as soon as that is lost the General Power of Attorney ceases to be able to be used. A General Power of Attorney should ONLY be used in one of the 2 instances as follows:
When a client is registering standard LPAs but needs someone to act for them regarding their financial affairs immediately and can’t wait potentially 15 weeks for the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to register their LPAs. The General Power of Attorney could then be used in a limited way until the registered LPA came into effect as a General Power of Attorney can be used as soon as it is signed and does not itself need to be registered.
Where someone only has a limited time to live and needs someone to act on some financial affairs immediately. A full LPA application however should still be submitted at the same time, registration of which could, should circumstances demand be speeded up with the OPG through a doctor’s letter should the donor lose mental capacity and the General Power of Attorney cease to be valid for use.
We repeat these are NOT full-blown LPAs and should not be seen by clients as a cheap alternative to them - they are most definitely not, and should only be used in the 2 scenarios highlighted above or (because a date when the power must expire can be added) it could also be used where a client only wants someone to be able to deal with their finances for a limited period of time (recuperating after an operation for example) and they can also be bespoked to limit access to things such as just a specific bank account or only withdrawing money once a week or up to a certain amount etc. Similarly a date when the Power expires if it is only to be used for a specific period of time can be added.
What is an advance directive?
Advance directives are also referred to as Living Wills or advance decisions or statements.
An advance directive contains specific instructions on what you would like or not like to happen if you are in a terminal condition, a permanent coma or in a persistent vegetative state.
It will also determine if you would like to receive artificial life support, artificially administered food and water or comfort and care if you are unable to speak for yourself.
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How much does it cost to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Single Person (50 or over)
2 Registered LPAs
£545 inc all OPG fees
Includes:
A registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Health and Welfare
A registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Property and Finance
A Living Will / Advance Directive
All OPG fees
Couple (50 or over)
4 Registered LPAs
£1090 inc all OPG fees
Includes:
2 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grants for Health and Welfare
2 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grants for Property and Finance
2 Living Wills / Advance Directives
All OPG fees
Single Person (under 50)
2 Registered LPAs
£595 inc all OPG fees
Includes:
1 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Health and Welfare
1 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Property and Finance
1 Advance Directive/Living Wil
All OPG fees
Couples (under 50)
4 Registered LPAs
£1190 inc all OPG fees
Includes:
2 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grants for Health and Welfare
2 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grants for Property and Finance
2 Living Wills / Advance Directives
All OPG fees
1 x registered Business LPA - £199
1 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Health and Welfare
All OPG fees
2 x registered Business LPAs - £375
Includes:
1 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Health and Welfare
1 registered Lasting Power of Attorney grant for Property and Finance
1 Advance Directive/Living Will
All OPG fees
1x General Power of Attorney - £195
Includes:
1 General Power of Attorney grant
4 extra copies
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