Two million people across the UK tuned in to watch the cutting edge Channel Four documentary on Monday 20th August, which focused on the mental health of the Moors murderer Ian Brady. Since suffering a seizure on the 3rd July 2012, Ian Brady has protested for his right to die. The documentary saw his long term health advocate completing a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney form. A Lasting Power of Attorney or LPA, allows you to plan in advance the decisions you want to be made on your behalf if you lose capacity to make them yourself. You select the people you want to entrust with making your decisions and how you want them to make them. The appointed person can make these decisions, subject to any restrictions or conditions you might have included. The Health and Welfare LPA provides your Attorneys with the authority to make decisions regarding personal issues such as: 1. Giving or refusing consent to medical treatment. 2. Whether to stay at home or go into care 3. The decision to refuse ‘life sustaining treatment’. A Property & Affairs LPA enables you to appoint Attorneys to deal with matters relating to your financial needs. They could: 1. open and close bank accounts on your behalf 2. claim benefits for you 3. pay every day household expenses 4. pay for your day to day needs. Both LPAs must be registered with the Office of Public Guardian before they can be used by the Attorneys. You can choose a number of Attorneys to act on your behalf. They must however, be over the age of 18 and must not be declared bankrupt. If you appoint more than one Attorney, you will be able to choose whether they act together at all times, or whether they can act independently of each other. Contact us about our Inheritance & Welfare Team who can advise you today. Please call 0800 916 9055, or email enquiries@rjwslatergordon.co.uk. Our Wills and Probate Specialists operate across the country and can offer immediate and accessible representation anywhere in the UK. By Laura Jackson, Inheritance & Welfare Expert.
An experienced solicitor and family mediator, a robust advocate and one who gives realistic advice from day one.
