The Power of Lasting Power of Attorneys During Covid-19.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Otherwise known as an LPA, a lasting power of attorney is a legal document that allows someone to appoint others to act on their behalf. These are commonly considered when an individual may no longer be able to make decisions for themselves.
The 2 forms of LPA
Property & Financial
This includes decisions such as:
- Managing bank or building society account(s)
- Collecting benefits or pension
- Paying bills
- Selling home
Health & Wealth fare
- Daily routine - washing, dressing, eating etc.
- Medical care
- When to move into a care home
- Life-sustaining treatment
How can LPA’s help During Covid-19?
Help the isolated allowing for purchases to be made upon another’s behalf. This may include:
- Groceries
- Means to make them less isolated for example a purchase of a tablet so that they can video call.
- Managing current investments
What happens if managing investments is something that you would rather not do?
That’s fine, you can instruct an investment manager to help with this, providing the LPA does in fact cover this.
New LPA’s and Covid-19
This is still presenting a bit of a problem within the legal sector currently - due to having to abide by social distancing. The talks have opened on what solutions there are to this and MacJones are in daily discussions & updates on the matter.
However, the current social distancing restrictions do not prevent preparation of LPA’s and we are currently helping donors and attorney’s get everything ready to put them in the best possible position during this pandemic
If you have any concerns or questions about wills please get in touch with Andrew Reeve at Mackenzie Jones 01745 536030 or mailroom@macjones.com. And we will do all we can to assist at this very difficult time.
