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One of the tips from a recent newsletter:
Enduring or Lasting Power of Attorney?
This week I spoke to group of carers, and one of them said to the others, "Have you all taken out an enduring power of attorney? They didn't do it for my aunt, and then her affairs had to be handed over to the Court of Protection and it cost a lot of extra money"
So did you and the one you care for ever get around to taking out a lasting power of attorney?
The new one is a bit more complicated to take out, but can give the attorney more say over your affairs if you wish. In any case never put off this job as the person taking it out has to be able to understand what the document is about. At the moment there is already a delay in registering it as the Office of the Public Guardian has a couple of months backlog. If you fail to take one out, you might end up having to apply to the Court of Protection which is more complicated and expensive: for instance if you have to sell a house or shares in the name of the person with dementia.
If you already have an enduring power of attorney, don't worry, it will not be affected by the new system.
Another problem has come up recently. The power of attorney was taken out jointly, instead of "jointly and severally". This makes a big difference, as it meant that all the attorneys had to sign everything! Then one of the attorneys said they didn't want to do it, and it all got very
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