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Every person in Britain should have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place. That’s the message from Trethowans Solicitors, who say that many people do not consider the option until it’s too late. A Lasting Power of Attorney allows the subject to select another person to make decisions on their behalf, if the subject becomes incapable of making those decisions. For this reason, a Lasting Power of Attorney has been compared to an insurance policy. It may never take effect but could be crucial in a variety of circumstances. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney: Personal Welfare (which deals with issues such as medical care and general decisions in day to day life) and Property and Affairs (which deals with financial matters). Personal Welfare will only take effect should the donor lose mental capacity, whilst Property and Affairs can be activated for a variety of reasons. Trethowans Solicitors are a UK based legal firm, who offer a complete range of legal services to businesses and individual clients. One of the many services available from specialist Trethowans lawyers is the set up and management of your Lasting Power of Attorney. A team of legal experts make the process of drafting your Power of Attorney as simple as possible. Once the document is arranged, clients can rest in the knowledge that their affair will be dealt with just as they would like in the event that the client loses the ability to act for themselves. There alternatives to Power of Attorney. If a person loses mental capacity, the Court of Protection can appoint a deputy to manage donor’s affairs. But such alternatives may not be as straightforward or beneficial to the subject as Lasting Powers of Attorney. Karen Perugini, Head of the Trethowans Wills, Probate and Trust Team explains, “The process of appointing a Deputy can take some while during which time it will not be possible to pay any bills or indeed have access to any of the funds in order to pay for care fees or any other support that may be required. “In comparison to the relative simplicity of dealing with the donor’s affairs under a Lasting Power of Attorney, a Deputyship is onerous in terms of administration. Annual accounts have to be submitted to the Court and the Order can be quite limiting as to what the donor’s fund can and cannot be used for.” Trethowans Solicitors, based in Southampton and Salisbury, offer legal services to people of all ages, from all walks of life; working to deliver clear legal advice in a down to Earth and approachable manner. http://www.trethowans.com/
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