I’m young, fit and healthy – do I need Lasting Powers of Attorney?

Often, people associate Lasting Powers of Attorney with your ‘later years’. It’s true that we live in a society where people are living to much older age and, with that, many often experience Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. But mental incapacity doesn’t only associate with the older generation and these health conditions.

For anyone who has assets, such as a property and/or bank and building society accounts, a Lasting Power of Attorney (for Property and Financial Affairs) will allow the people you trust the most to help you manage and deal with those assets. Your attorneys can help you manage your affairs before you have lost capacity if you authorise them to, and they can deal with your assets in their entirety if you lack the mental capacity to do so yourself.

You may think “I’m too young to need a Lasting Power of Attorney”, or “there’s simply no need because I have all my faculties”. But, what is the unimaginable happens and you find yourself involved in a terrible accident that leaves you with life changing injuries, physically and/or mentally? You may no longer be able to manage your affairs, and without a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, the person (or people) who you would have naturally appointed in the role of attorney, would be left needing to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order – which is expensive and a lengthy process.

There is another type of Lasting Power of Attorney, which relates to your health and welfare. The attorneys who are appointed in this regard are only able to make decisions about your health and the care you receive when you lack the capacity to do so yourself.

It’s possible that you may never find yourself needing to use these documents but, having them in place early on can provide you with the peace of mind that your affairs will be taken care of if the need should arise.

Katrina Drake is a Solicitor in the private client team at Barker Gotelee, Ipswich Solicitors.

Suffolk Private Client Solicitors – for more information on our range of legal services, please call the team on 01473 611211.