Powers of Attorney

Lasting Powers of Attorney, incapacity and Court of Protection

“My mother is getting very forgetful and cannot look after her money. What can I do?”

It is an unfortunate fact of life that a person can lose the capacity to make decisions for themselves because of an injury or condition such as an accident or dementia. This can lead to them losing the ability to deal with everyday things.

Where an individual starts beginning to forget things and this is recognised as being the onset of something more serious it is worth considering obtaining a Power of Attorney.  If a person loses their capacity to the extent that they cannot make decisions for themselves it is then too late to make a Power of Attorney, and the only alternative is for a third party to apply to the Court of Protection to act as their Deputy and handle their affairs on their behalf.

The Court of Protection is the court that oversees the affairs of people who lack the capacity to deal with their own affairs by reason of some mental condition or injury.  The court has the power to appoint individuals to act on behalf of a person in this situation and the appointed person is called a Deputy.

Applications to the Court of Protection can take months to complete and can leave the families of an incapacitated person in a difficult position in trying to deal with their affairs in the meantime.

In addition the costs of applying to the Court of Protection is a more expensive process than obtaining a Lasting Power of Attorney at a fixed price.

Berry Smith Fees:

We charge £425 plus VAT and disbursements for a single power of attorney and £650 plus VAT for joint powers.  This could be, for example a husband and wife making a power of attorney each or an individual making both types of power namely one for property and affairs and one for health and welfare. If two people wanted to make both types of power of attorney, our fees would be £795 plus VAT. There is an additional registration fee of £82 for each power of attorney which is payable to the Office of the Public Guardian  which oversees the system and validates the documents for use.

Department: Private Client

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