Why use a financial adviser for Lasting Powers of Attorney
A lasting power of attorney is a document by which one person (the “donor”) gives another person (the “attorney”) the power to act on their behalf and in their name. There are two types of LPA – health and welfare and property and financial affairs.
Without a property and financial affairs LPA, no one is permitted to manage your financial and legal affairs should you become unable to make decisions for yourself. Even if you are married, in a civil partnership or have adult children, no one will be allowed to make important decisions without going through an extremely intrusive, time-consuming, and expensive guardianship process.
This could lead to you missing out on new opportunities to manage your wealth effectively for your loved ones and limit the amount of support that is easily accessible to help with your care.
There are strict rules around what attorneys can do with an LPA and a lack of understanding or misinterpreting of these rules can also inadvertently lead to misuse of the LPA. It can be daunting being given the responsibility of making decisions for another person and often leads to families falling out at what can be a time of significant stress.
Using a financial adviser to organise your LPA can ensure everyone involved understands the role of the Office of Public Guardian and the Court of Protection and what the LPA allows. With oversight of the financial position especially, an adviser can provide guidance to the attorney and therefore reassurance for the whole family that the provisions in the LPA and actions of the attorney are in the donor’s best interests.
As award-winning vulnerable customer champions, we’re well-placed to help you make a plan to protect your wealth and prepare for the future, whatever that may hold.
Joining The Dots with a Financial Adviser
There is more to consider around making and then using Lasting Power of Attorney than people think. In practice, when families begin to consider Lasting Power or Attorney more holistically, especially with our guidance as later life financial and legal specialists, they are often surprised to discover gaps and inconsistencies in their overall estate plan.
A well-considered Lasting Power of Attorney arrangement usually brings together several areas of financial and legal planning. Wills, Trusts an indeed LPAs form part of that picture, but so do questions about inheritance tax, long-term care considerations and investment management.
Alongside LPA arrangements, financial planning considerations are often closely connected. Investment decisions, pension planning and inheritance tax allowances can all influence how efficiently assets might pass between generations both in lifetime and on death.
For some families, another important aspect of estate planning, particularly with regard to LPAs, is considering how financial resources might be used later in life, particularly if care or support becomes necessary. With this in mind, thoughts turn naturally to aligning investment management, Immediate Care Plans and inheritance tax strategies.
Many people find that different parts of their estate planning have been put in place at different times of their life. For instance, an LPA may have been actioned and attorneys nominated long ago when circumstances, wishes and goals were completely different and probably were not discussed at length even then.
Taking out LPA may have seemed straightforward and sensible at the time. But without reviewing it together regularly with your financial (and life) objectives it is not always clear whether the overall plan still reflects current intentions and your life situation as it stands. It is critical that the financial and legal arrangements for your estate planning are perfectly aligned. If they are not, it can create unwanted upset down the line.
Local Estate Planning Events
To help people understand these issues more clearly, we will be running a series of free Estate Planning seminars locally this June and July. These sessions will explore key elements such as Wills, LPAs and Trusts and explain how they work alongside your financial planning arrangements like inheritance tax, investment management and care fee planning.
Tuesday 23rd June - 2.30pm - 3.30pm - St Peter’s Church, Henleaze
Wednesday 24th June - 10am - 11am - Thornbury URC
Tuesday 30th June - 6pm - 7pm - Stoke Lodge, Stoke Bishop
Wednesday 1st July - 2.30pm - 3.30pm - St Peter’s church, Henleaze
Tuesday 7th July - 10am - 11am - Henleaze Bowling Club
Call 0117 3636 212 or email community@haroldstephens.co.uk to book your place.