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Lasting Powers of Attorney
The Wills and Probate team at Blackstone Solicitors is here to help you protect your interests and to provide the all-important peace of mind that everything will be taken care of when you decide to draft a Lasting Power of Attorney. Planning ahead is essential, and we can assist you with every aspect of navigating the legal process. We have considerable experience in this area of law and can advise you throughout the process. We can also help with all the documentation to ensure you achieve everything you are hoping to through the choices you make.
Contact us today and we can talk you through our services and how we can help you and your family. Simply call us on 0345 901 0445 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of the team will give you a call back as soon as possible.
At Blackstone, we always aim to provide the best service possible. Meticulous in our approach, we will make sure everything is dealt with as you wish and will keep you updated throughout the legal process, ensuring that you always know of any developments.
“Very good service.”
– Paul 
Our Approach
We place huge emphasis on getting things done properly and efficiently. This is especially true when providing legal advice concerning Lasting Powers of Attorney; we have vast experience of the legal implications and creation of these important documents, doing so comprehensively and ensuring all of the necessary provisions to protect you, your family and your estate are properly set out, fulfilling every aim and objective whatever your requirements may be.
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.
This gives you more control over what happens to you if you have an accident or an illness and cannot make your own decisions (you ‘lack mental capacity’). You must be 18 or over and have mental capacity (the ability to make your own decisions) when you make your LPA. You don’t need to live in the U.K or be a British Citizen to make an LPA.
Regardless of the complexity of your estate, our solicitors have the experience and specialist knowledge to help you achieve an outcome that protects you and your loved ones. We will take the time to make sure you fully understand the options open to you.
We are 100% committed to ensuring each and every one of our clients receives the highest quality service and we will go the extra mile to ensure that you are happy with the results gained. We understand it can be particularly difficult to deal with matters relating to death and inheritance, and this is why our friendly and approachable team always take a sympathetic and understanding approach, ensuring that you receive the support you need.
We believe communication is of the utmost importance. We will therefore keep you updated as things develop and our solicitors will provide practical, straightforward legal advice so that you can be confident everything is progressing as you would like.
LPAs & Mental Capacity (Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia)
We always recommend that if you are injured or have developed an illness that may leave you mentally incapacitated, you should setup an LPA sooner rather than later, while you still have the mental capacity to do so. This will give you greater control over your future and enable you and your loved ones to have peace of mind.
If you do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, you run the risk of forcing your loved ones into potentially long and formal Court Proceedings, as they seek to take control of your finances.
If a loved one has lost their mental capacity to make decisions for themselves or if you are worried about Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia and other mental health issues, please call us for specific advice.
In the event that the individual has already lost the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves, we can assist in making an application to the Court of Protection for you to be appointed as the person’s Deputy.
In the event of an emergency, we can apply for an urgent or emergency court order. To discuss your circumstances and to find out how we can assist, please call us today.
Why Legal Help Is Important
When someone (the ‘donor’) makes a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), they appoint one or more individuals (the ‘attorneys’) to make decisions on their behalf. The lasting power of attorney’s responsibilities will be specified in the LPA. It will explain what kind of decisions the attorney will be able to take, and under what circumstances.
Being an attorney could involve difficult decisions about issues such as healthcare (eg should the donor be moved into residential care) or finances (eg claiming benefits and dealing with taxes on behalf of the donor). Although you can reclaim reasonable expenses, the role is unpaid (unless you are a professional attorney).
As an attorney, your legal responsibilities include acting in the donor’s best interests and taking reasonable care when acting on their behalf, helping the donor to make decisions as opposed to simply taking control and acting according to the terms of the Lasting Power of Attorney.
An LPA does not give you unlimited authority to make decisions on behalf of the donor.
A lasting power of attorney can be either a property and financial affairs LPA – which allows the attorney to make decisions about finances and property – or a health and welfare LPA (healthcare and personal welfare decisions).
Being appointed under a property and financial affairs LPA does not give you the authority to make health and welfare decisions – and vice versa – though you can be appointed as an attorney under both kinds of LPA.
If the donor loses capacity before the LPA has been registered, you can apply to the Office of the Public Guardian to register it. You should do this as soon as possible – there will be a six week delay (at least) before the registration takes effect.
There are many practical issues to consider and a number of specific things you can and cannot do when abiding by a Power of Attorney document.
At Blackstone, we can help to ensure your Lasting Power of Attorney represents your wishes completely and provides you with complete legal protection. It is imperative that you seek expert legal advice to ensure the drafting of all documentation is correct and accurately reflects your wishes and address any complexities of your personal circumstances.
Our Services
We can provide help with a wide range of matters relating to wills and probate, including:
Get in Touch
Contact us today to discuss any matter relating to Lasting Powers of Attorney. We can talk about your situation in-depth, the options open to you and get to the bottom of what you need and how we can help. We are here to answer any questions which you have, and we aim to make everything as simple for you as possible.
Our team is approachable and professional and we will do everything in our power to help you get the outcome you need. Call us on 0345 901 0445 or, if you would prefer us to contact you, leave your details via our online enquiry form.
We offer our services to clients in Manchester, Chester, Cheshire and throughout the rest of the UK. We also have an office in London.
