The importance of arranging Lasting Power of Attorney

For heavens sake get your own LPA set up. Yes, the author is correct, an LPA is cheaper (marginally) to set up than is a Court Order appointing a Deputy. Yes, LPAs can be set up in advance leaving you worry free on the what-happens-if-I-have-a-stroke-or-accident front. However it is in the area of ongoing annual administration costs, which will come out of your assets, where the LPA comes out way ahead of the Deputy route. The article seems to miss this aspect. Typically an LPA costs a big fat zero to administer if you have someone with a slightly well-ordered mind when it comes to money that you trust to act as your Attorney. With a Deputy Court Order, even if you have a Chartered Accountant in the family to be your Deputy for free, you will typically suffer deductions of 420 quid (sorry my PC doesn't do the pound sterling sign at the moment!) for insuring you against fraud by your Deputy. Then there is a charge of 320 quid for supervision of your Deputy by the Government. This is because a Deputy Court Order takes you into a regulated activity whereas an attorney under an LPA is unregulated. It is frustrating, but partly understandable that we require our elderly and infirm people to pay for most of their Nursing Home care, selling their homes to provide those funds if necessary. But then to add insult to injury the old person, who is very likely shelling out far more for care than receiving income from assets and pensions, gets raked for a further 740 quid per annum - some of it by us the populace (government). The supervison fee only comes down if your gross income is less than 12,000; the fact that your gross income has probably all gone on Nursing Home fees is irrelevant. If your financial affairs are not basic you are much more likely to need to pay someone to do all or part of the job if you have to go down the Deputy route. Annual accounting statements and reporting to Government tends to frighten the horses a bit. [B]Don't let your assets be raided any more than they need to be. Make sure you set up an LPA now!![/B] [Chartered Accountant (retired) who acts as a Court-appointed Deputy for one family member and Attorney under an LPA for another]

LPA is slightly more complicated (and more costly) than the old EPA. As soon as we were aware of the change coming in my wife and I quickly prepared EPA's for our family to activate as and when necessary in the future. We are still only (just) in our 50's but felt that it was a sensible step to take, as once you are no longer capable to manage your affairs it is too late to start. We used a DIY set of forms which cost us £5 each at the time. We have recently consulted a solicitor about Wills and had the EPA's checked over to make sure that everything is in order. I assume that LPA forms are probably available in a similar format or downloadable from the Court of Protection website. The process need not be costly and will save considerable money and effort should the time come when it needs to be activated. There are inbuilt safeguards to prevent individual's taking advantage of the situation. Of course, if you really can't trust your loved ones, don't set the LPA up in the first place.

Are the procedures documents etc in this article applicable to Scotland?