Lasting Power of Attorney

We are currently offering reduced price Lasting Power of Attorney documents, please call 0300 330 5514, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm to find out more.

Update: If you are waiting for the registration of a Lasting Power of Attorney, please be aware that the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is presently take up to 20 weeks to process the registration of documents.

What would happen if you had a stroke, were involved in an accident resulting in a brain injury, or you developed dementia?

Who would look after your finances or help you decide on medical care? Your partner or spouse has no automatic legal authority to do so.

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a means of keeping control of who would manage your affairs if you could no longer manage them yourself. It is a legal document in which you name a person(s) that you trust and who knows you best to make decisions on your behalf in the event that you lose mental capacity for decision making.

LPAs can only be used during a person’s lifetime, once a person passes away the powers under their LPA end.

How an LPA can help

The Advice Team recommends that you bear in mind that if you, or a family member, were to lose mental capacity there would not be any way to make decisions, manage your money, or pay your bills unless an LPA has been created.

Creating an LPA gives you peace of mind that in the event of an illness or accident causing a loss of mental capacity, someone that you have chosen because you trust them, has legal authority to make decisions on your behalf and in your best interests.

Our Advice Team is available to take you through this process, they will help you to complete the relevant forms and to register your documents.

How to use our Lasting Power of Attorney service

Currently the Advice Team use a telephone appointment system to manage LPA appointments. This allows the person who is creating the LPA to manage the call in the comfort and security of their own home and with the support of a family member(s). By placing the phone on loudspeaker, more than one person can be part of the call.

An advisor will call you at an agreed time to discuss the purpose and implications of LPAs and help you to decide which one is right for you, or whether both are more suited to your needs and personal circumstances.

If you decide to go ahead with your LPA(s) the advisor will either take the necessary details during the call or call you back at another time should you want more time to consider your options.

Once we have your details and instructions, we will create your documents and post a draft to you for confirmation that the documents reflect your wishes.

We will manage all of the necessary signing of documents by post and will be available to discuss the progress of your LPAs throughout your LPA application process.

Having received all of the necessary signed documents from you and your attorneys etc, we will send your LPAs to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration. Once registered, your LPAs will be sent to us to be forwarded onto you (or your attorney) by first class recorded delivery.

Enduring Power of Attorney

If you had made an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) before October 2007, we can assist the attorney(s) to register this document when you lose or start to lose your ability to make your own financial decisions or manage your own money.

However, it is worth bearing in mind that an EPA does not give your attorney(s) legal decision-making power in relation to your health or welfare, this includes where you live, who cares for you, choices between any treatment options or if you need to move to a residential care home. A lot of people assume an EPA does give you these legal rights, but it doesn’t.

Advice Team Appointment

Getting in contact

Phone: 0300 330 5514 (calls charged at the local rate)

Phoneline open hours: Monday to Friday 9.30am – 1.30pm

Email: advice@diverseabilities.org.uk

Address: Diverse Abilities Central Office, Langside School, Langside Avenue, Poole, BH12 5BN