Lasting power of attorney

Mark M

Mark M

Mark M

Soldato
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Newcastle upon Tyne
I thought it was about time to sort a will out so got a recommendation from someone I know and was quoted £175 which I was happy with. They also said I should consider lasting power of attorney which they can sort for £375 for either a Property and Financial Affairs or Health and Welfare OR £550 for both plus £82 registration fee payable to the government?

I had a look online and you appear to be able to do it yourself on the .GOV site if you create an account. Has anyone any experience of this? Is it something you can do yourself or should it be left to a professional?

I have to confess that I dont know a great deal about LPOA but will have a read up over the weekend.
 
We sorted out our wills recently but have been meaning to this as well. From what i understand youre correct in that you can just complete the online paperwork yourself and submit it with the appropriate fee. It's quite straight forward so no need to involve solicitors so can easily save some money. If you want any stipulations about not wanting life prolonging treatment in case of incapacity this must be made explicitly clear (for example if you don't to be ventilated etc).
 
I did it for my mother as she slipped into dementia. She didn't pay for registration because she's on Pension Credit, but she didn't have any friends who'd known her well enough to witness the documents so her GP went through both financial and health with her. Cost £120, but anyone who's known the person for a couple of years or more can do it, IIRC.

I found the process daunting, but only because it's such a serious thing and because Mum wasn't always in a compliant mood. I sent off for the paper pack (free) rather than do it online and then have to print it out. The only risk in DIY is that you'll send off the forms and the application will be rejected due to an error. I imagine that would mean paying again. But it's really not that hard if everyone involved is in agreement (ie a member of the family is likely to object).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...lasting-power-of-attorney-a-guide-web-version
 
No need for a professional 99% of the time. I recently (8 months ago) did an LPA for my mother who has dementia/alzheimer's. Just read the documents, follow what it says, pay the processing fee and send it off. The most hassle some part i found was just arranging time with someone to sign as the witness. As mentioned, as long as everyone is happy and there are no objections by other family members it can be done in a few hours
 
nothing to the LPA stuff, be aware [unless they've changed it] you have to pay a fee EACH for the health/financial document. it's also a bit of a carry one and dragged out a few weeks, but there's certainly no need to pay someone to do it.
 
I regularly rewrite my family's Wills. If they are simple and straightforward it's a very easy paper exercise. I have a word document template set up to make it even easier. If there's any hint of complication I decline and refer people to solicitors


A few years ago I did my folks LPAs. It is straightforward, but a bit of a grind - you've really got to like admin, be organized, and have a compliant donor
Saves loads of cash, but you don't get any extra advice that a solicitor may give
My mum thought it automatically inserted into my brain all the passwords to her online banking....and she still does. It gets very tiresome having to explain to her that I can't move her money around without her giving me the paper file with the coded passwords

Be aware that it can be daunting for the donor when they have to sign legally binding documents that have to be witnessed by 2 independent people. Despite the fact that we'd talked about it for months, and they wanted it to happen, my folks got cold feet and I had to do a great deal of persuasion to get them to sign - I felt bad about that since I felt they were dumping responsibility for the decision to sign one, over to me. I didn't want them to feel coerced into doing it. I think if we'd have used a solicitor and had to go to their offices to sign, they would have been more comfortable (but considerably poorer). Laughingly, my mum went and hid all the documents when they came back

Me and the girlfriend are going to do our own this year - no way are we going to get charged anything but the filing/registration fee

If there are no complicated circumstances, I'd advise you to do it yourself
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll have a look at setting up a account on the .gov site and see how it goes. Im reluctant to spend the sort of money that Ive been quoted as it needs doing for me and my wife, my parents and my mother in law so we would end up paying £3,160!

Pipe & Slippers said:
I regularly rewrite my family's Wills. If they are simple and straightforward it's a very easy paper exercise. I have a word document template set up to make it even easier. If there's any hint of complication I decline and refer people to solicitors
Click to expand...

Out of interest, how complicated are my affairs that consist of 1 child aged 4, own home with mortgage, 3 rental properties with mortgages, small amount of investments, savings and a boat load of life cover? Oh and a cat!
 
Mark M said:
Out of interest, how complicated are my affairs that consist of 1 child aged 4, own home with mortgage, 3 rental properties with mortgages, small amount of investments, savings and a boat load of life cover? Oh and a cat!
Click to expand...

...and a wife...need to get facts straight before you start!

I assume it'd be all to the wife, and if that fails, to your child (or a mixture of the two)? That's really easy...but see below. What you estate comprises in terms of types of assets is irrelevant for the beneficiaries, but would be relevant in terms of who you choose as executors

The issue you will have with dealing with a solicitor is the first question they are going to ask is what's the total value of you your estate and if it's large enough to pay IHT on (sounds like it could be), they will get nervous and advise you do some estate planning...fees, fees , fees! On saying that though, they do this for a reason. Perhaps you do need to do some estate planning

re Life Cover - you should have that set up to create a trust on death so it falls outside your estate - I'd advise you to sort that out asap. As a first step, if you can't sort that out, you are not cut out for homemade Wills!

Also read up on the differences between holding you main residence as Tenants-in Common or Joint Tenancy
 
An uncontested will of straightforward intent, clearly and seemingly correctly drafted is of course fine. Until someone contests intent, mental acuity or otherwise decides to make waves. It's when a mischievous litigant decides to try and poke holes in it, or the author of it, that a home drawn up will may prove lacking in some detail. IMHO the minor cost saving with DIY wills is foolhardy against having a professional with professional insurance do it.
 
I did both LPAs for my mother in 2014 after she was put into care. As long as the person giving LPA is mentally fit then it's time consuming but reasonably easy. But one question: are you proposing to grant LPA to one person, or more? If it's one, then you need two witnesses that you are competent to make the decision, but if you are giving it to two or more people then one testament is enough. Usually it's your GP. There is certainly no reason to pay anyone else to fill out the forms. They are long, but they come with a detailed explanation. IIRC, the actual cost is £120 each if you do it.
 
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