How we add value with LPAs
For more information on why you might need an LPA, click here. Many of our clients want to create LPAs after watching this video featuring Dom Littlewood
I can find out how to do lots of things online. It’s amazing. I can find out how to change the brakes on my car, or how to invest in the latest Crypto. Or what shares are hot. For a price, I can even learn about a range of investment funds with promising returns.
And so it is with LPAs. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has made it possible to create your own LPAs by answering a few questions. Seems easy enough, especially if it stops those lawyers making money. And yet, the OPG reject a surprisingly high number of ‘DIY’ LPAs every year at the registration stage. That’s okay if you still have your capacity, you just have to pay the registration fee (again) and hope you’ve got it right this time. The real problems come when the LPA isn’t registered until the Donor loses their capacity. At this point it’s too late to put it right.
Even if the DIY LPA is good enough to get past the OPG, it doesn’t mean that banks will blindly accept it when the time comes. Hospitals and social services similarly may not be so easy to sidestep when provisions in an LPA are legally or procedurally unworkable. Because the online system provides no legal advice, you are flying blind unless this really is your thing.
So where do Silver Lining add value with LPAs?
1) We keep the LPA as simple as possible unless there are complex financial affairs or medical issues to deal with
2) We give advice on the benefits of appointing attorneys jointly and severally and when to use replacement attorneys. We also point out the risk of abuse that you should consider when choosing attorneys
3) We act as Certificate Provider, saving an expensive trip to the GP and greatly reducing claims of incapacity later on
4) We ensure that the documents are all signed correctly before registration. This may save you the trouble of an LPA being rejected and having to be re-registered
5) We add bespoke clauses, which can be helpful when dealing with institutions in the future including, but not limited to:
Powers to control digital assets and online bank accounts
Allowing attorneys to see a Will to avoid destroying someone’s inheritance plans
Making views on gifting clear, so that future tax planning and charitable giving is made much easier for the attorneys
Allowing Discretionary Investment Management schemes to continue
Clearly stating your views on life sustaining treatment to help families decide at a very difficult time
Where you have even remotely complex affairs, or money invested, it may be rather risky for you to attempt to do your own LPAs online. The old adage applies:
Don’t try this at home (unless you’re certain that you’ll get it right)!
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