Question about Lasting Powers of Attorney

Answered by our Wills & Probate Executive, Yazmyn Nuttall

Q. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for Health and Welfare – do I really need it?

A. "This is a question I get asked a lot. When considered a LPA for Health and Welfare it’s important to remember that spouses and children do not automatically have the right to access your medical files or make decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity.

Generally, we dislike having choices being made for us because it threatens our need for autonomy, personal control, and freedom. But by creating an LPA for Health and Welfare it allows you to choose your trusted people to manage your healthcare as you would have wished and it stops the courts or strangers from making choices for you so you feel more in charge of your own future.

Additionally, when people ask me this question, they have already set up or only intend to create an LPA for property and finance, not knowing that both documents can work in tandem together to provide full protection for real life situations. For example, a financial attorney cannot make medical decisions for you such as arranging dental, optical or even day to day care, and a health and welfare attorney cannot access your bank account in order to pay care fees.

So, if you want total coverage, a say in your preferred medical treatment, where you live or just what daily care you would like to include what you eat, then yes a Health and Welfare LPA is always best".

To contact Yazmyn Nuttall with your LPA enquiry, please email yazmynnuttall@owenkenny.co.uk or call 01243 532777 and ask for Yazmyn

https://www.owenkenny.com/yazmyn-nuttall

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