Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document whereby one person grants another person the authority to make legal and financial decisions on their behalf. There are different types of LPA for financial decisions and health care decisions.

A Lasting Power for financial decisions can be used to allow someone to make decisions for you even while you still have mental capacity. These decisions may include such thin gs as buying and selling the property, investing money and paying bills.

A Lasting Power of Attorney for health is different in that it only comes into effect if you have lost the capacity to make decisions for yourself. It will allow someone you trust to make decisions such as where you live, your medical care, what you eat and what kind of activities you should take part in.

A Lasting Power of Attorney is only valid if you have not been put under pressure to create it, and if you have the mental capacity to understand the implications of the document.