Lasting Power of Attorney Registration Fees Reduced
It now costs less to register your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) or Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA). As of 1st April 2017, the fees applying to LPA registration have been reduced from £110 to £82, each. And, that’s not all… the fee for resubmitting an LPA registration has gone down from £55 to £41.
It’s not often that the government reduces anything but due to improved efficiencies (I know…) and an increase in applications being processed by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) it has become possible to reduce the cost of the service. Yay. It’s also hoped that cutting fees will make EVEN more people take out LPAs. Will this see a further reduction in fees… who knows!
Lasting Power of Attorney 101
This is a VERY short overview of LPAs. If you’re thirsty for more, and why wouldn’t you be… You can read our in-depth guide to Lasting Power of Attorney here. You should give it a try, it’s pretty good.
What is Lasting Power of Attorney
An LPA is a legal document which allows you – the rather sinisterly named DONOR, give permission to one or more ATTORNEY’S to make decisions with you or, on your behalf should you be unable to.
Types of Lasting Power of Attorney
There are TWO types of LPA available – it’s prudent to put both in place, you just never know…
Health and welfare lasting power of attorney
This can ONLY be used when you are UNABLE to make your own decisions and gives your Attorneys the power to make decisions about things concerning
- your daily routine, for example, washing, dressing, eating
- medical care
- moving into a care home
- life-sustaining treatment
Property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney
With your permission, this can be used as soon as it’s registered. So, if you’re temporarily unable to deal with your financial affairs, say you were in hospital for a while this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about money and property for you, including (but not limited to)…
- managing a bank or building society account
- paying bills
- collecting benefits or a pension
- selling your home
Who should put Lasting Power of Attorney in place?
It’s a common misconception that LPAs are just for the elderly. They aren’t.
We hate to be the harbinger of doom but, you never know what’s going to be around the corner. And, the problem with LPAs is that you MUST have mental capacity when you put it in place. Allowing people to appoint attorneys when they are UNABLE to make their own decisions is well, not a good idea.
Attorneys, who, how, why…
You’ve probably got an idea of who you would appoint as your attorney(s) most people choose their children, spouse, sibling or close friend – they do not need to live in the UK or be a British citizen.
- Must be over 18
- Have mental capacity
- Appoint one or more
- Decide if they act jointly, all have to agree on a decision
- Or, separately, can make independent decisions
How to put Lasting Power of Attorney in place
Download the forms, fill them in and register them. Oh and pay.
The forms can be tricky to get right we offer a full LPA service – we will complete the forms for you and return them to you to register.
How much does it cost?
LESS than it did before… YIPEE!
To register an LPA is £82 – if you were to do both you will pay £164 in registration fees.
Read our deep dive into all things Lasting Power of Attorney here.
Thinking about putting Lasting Power of Attorney in place?
Future Legal Services offers a full LPA service – we will complete the forms on your behalf and return them to you to register at you convenience. To find out more about this, and the other services we have on offer click here or call 01322 664885.
