Making sure
you’re looked after
Often clients make a will and overlook putting in place provisions for people to look after their affairs during their lifetime if they were unable to do so themselves.
Parry Carver Solicitors have a specialist private client team dedicated to advising clients on how to manage their affairs during your lifetime when you are unable to do so, this often involves Power of Attorney. Powers of Attorney are powerful documents and therefore we will guide you and/or your relatives through the process.
Which Power of Attorney
do you need?
There are different types of Powers of Attorney, however the most common is Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), but there are Ordinary Powers and Enduring Powers. We will explain the options available and help you to choose which is best for your particular circumstances.
LPAs will enable you to plan ahead by choosing someone you trust to act on your behalf to manage your property and finances and possibly make decisions about your care needs and medical treatment if you become unable to make decisions for yourself. The people you choose will be called Attorneys.
The risk of becoming incapable of managing your affairs and making decisions grows as people live longer so it is prudent to have in place an LPA.
The two types
of LPA
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Property and Financial Affairs - This is the most popular LPA and this allows your Attorney to make decisions about your money and property, paying bills and buying and selling houses.
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Health and Welfare - A Welfare Attorney can make decisions about your care and well-being when you are unable to do so yourself. You can also ask your Attorneys to make decisions about what medical treatment you should receive for life threatening illness.
You may choose to make a Property and Financial Affairs LPA without a Welfare one or opt for a Welfare LPA alone or have both. You can choose different Attorneys for both. As part of our service the Partners of Parry Carver are able to act as Attorneys and are very experienced in this field.
Our team at Parry Carver can also assist Attorneys with their role and also advise and assist Attorneys with the registration of a Lasting Power of Attorney or an Enduring Power of Attorney. If you require further information or an appointment to discuss this further, then please feel free to contact our offices.
Court of Protection and Deputyship
There may be certain circumstances where your spouse or relatives no longer have the mental capacity to make important decisions about their financial affairs. If this does occur and no Power of Attorney has been granted then an application has to be made to the Court of Protection, which is part of the Court system responsible for making decisions to appoint a Deputy to act to deal with that person’s finances and possibly personal welfare on their behalf.
The procedures in making a Court of Protection application are complicated and the associated paperwork has to be completed meticulously. Our specialist team at Parry Carver Solicitors can assist you in dealing with the Court of Protection application. We will guide you through the whole process, which includes the application on your behalf, or the Partners can act as professional Deputies where independence is required. We can also assist existing Deputies make applications to the Court of Protection to make statutory wills, property transactions or gifts.
Advice
for the elderly
A common area of concern is asset protection, should you or a member of your family require care in a residential care home in the future. Parry Carver Solicitors have a highly experienced team to deal with elderly people and their families when concerns are raised about protecting assets for their children's inheritance. We can advise on asset protection through the use of Wills and Trusts and the benefits and risks associated with any proposed transactions.
