Government plans Lasting Powers of Attorney day - how ridiculous!

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Norfolkgirl

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Jul 18, 2012
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The Government says it’s concerned that not enough people are making Lasting Powers of Attorney. So it’s announced there’s going to be a national ‘life planning day’ in 2015.

The idea is put forward in a government document called ‘Valuing every voice, respecting every right: Making the case for the Mental Capacity Act.‘ which was written in response to a House of Lords report on the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The House of Lords looked at public awareness of the Mental Capacity Act and found that many people, including health and social care professionals, most banks and many public agencies are still not fully aware of the Act or simply don’t understand it properly. As a result the House of Lords made 39 recommendations to the Government on how to improve awareness and training about the Mental Capacity Act.

The Government has responded by suggesting a national event in 2015. The ‘life planning day’ will aim to raise awareness of the Mental Capacity Act and find out the views of the public and professionals on improving understanding of the Act.

The national event will also try to encourage more people to make Lasting Powers of Attorney. The Government wants everyone to make Lasting Powers of Attorney as a matter of course – something we automatically think about doing.

At the moment most people only make a Lasting Power of Attorney when they suddenly face a crisis in their health. Very often this is too late. If they have already lost the mental capacity necessary to make a Lasting Power of Attorney they won’t be able to make a valid document. The only option left in that situation is for a deputy to be appointed by the Court of Protection to manage their affairs and make decisions on their behalf that they are no longer able to make for themselves. This is a much more complex and expensive solution than planning ahead and making a Lasting Power of Attorney.
 

Beate

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May 21, 2014
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I don't think it's ridiculous! We need more awareness of LPAs with people and organisations, so this can only be a good thing.
 

Spamar

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Oct 5, 2013
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Not many people even know about LPAs let alone the alternatives. I think it is a good idea to air the facts so more people are aware. You don't have to make an LPA the moment the d word is mentioned, you can do it years before. Then it's all waiting, one less thing to worry about! Plus who know when you have an accident. Just as vital!
 

LYN T

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Aug 30, 2012
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Not many people even know about LPAs let alone the alternatives. I think it is a good idea to air the facts so more people are aware. You don't have to make an LPA the moment the d word is mentioned, you can do it years before. Then it's all waiting, one less thing to worry about! Plus who know when you have an accident. Just as vital!

I have a LPA registered so if something happens to me my Daughter will look after my financial and welfare affairs. I must admit I never thought about it until I had to organise one for Pete. I wonder how many carers have already got their LPA's in place?
 

Izzy

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I got ours done when Bill was diagnosed. Initially it was because I thought it would be more acceptable to him for us both to be getting them done. I'm now glad we did.
 

Cathy*

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I have a LPA registered so if something happens to me my Daughter will look after my financial and welfare affairs. I must admit I never thought about it until I had to organise one for Pete. I wonder how many carers have already got their LPA's in place?

When we wrote our wills years ago we did EPA s and encouraged our 3 remaining parents to do them too. The only time I wanted to use one was with HSBC to try to manage my mum's affairs. She was still mentally capable but she wanted me to take over for her. I couldn't get anyone at HSBC to understand what an EPA was. Eventually I became a signatory on her account and mum signed up for internet banking, which meant nothing to her but served our purpose. However when the dementia finally got worse and the bank were tipped off they blocked the internet banking. It was one more nightmare to deal with. I hope the LPAs work better than that and I'm considering putting those in place now too.
 

nitram

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Apr 6, 2011
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Both my wife and myself had EPAs with a clause saying if the spouse attorney could not act our children could act instead.

We destroyed the unregistered EPAs and replaced them with LPAs in 2007 because of the clarity of replacement attorneys. Both LPAs were immediately registeted.
 

Cathy*

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Jan 4, 2015
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Both my wife and myself had EPAs with a clause saying if the spouse attorney could not act our children could act instead.

We destroyed the unregistered EPAs and replaced them with LPAs in 2007 because of the clarity of replacement attorneys. Both LPAs were immediately registeted.

We each did separate EPAs for eachother and our 2 children to be able to act. I have used the EPA for my son to deal with the sale of a property for us but that was with a solicitor and obviously she knew what it was. I hope the banks are more clued up with LPAs than they were with EPAs.
 

min88cat

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Apr 6, 2010
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Surely the more people who are made aware of an LPA the better, so why is it a ridiculous idea?
 

jaymor

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Jul 14, 2006
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We both had EPAs from the time we made our first wills out. When my husband was diagnosed we made out new wills and had LPA's drawn up too. It is assurance.
 

BeckyJan

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Nov 28, 2005
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I think it is important not just for us to do POAs but also to encourage our children. Our daughters did theirs along with Wills once they were in full employment and taking full responsibility for themselves. POA were done at the same time.

We focussed on this when a young friend's husband sustained brain injury following a serious accident. She was left with 3 young children and no access to his accounts.

It emphasises the need and I applaud any efforts to raise awareness on this.
 

Norfolkgirl

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Jul 18, 2012
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Not sure why you think this is a ridiculous idea?

My point was that it needn't have to be framed as an LPA "DAY" as in Mother's Day. They could raise awareness in other forms. If they go down that line why don't they nominate a day called "Make a Will" day? or better still "Why don't we stop stealing from the vulnerable and elderly" day?
 
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sinkhole

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Jan 28, 2015
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Well, there aren't enough 'days' to fill up the calendar, so may as well have another one I suppose.

We've just had 'British Yorkshire Pudding Day' on Feb 1st, then there's 'National Doodle Day' tomorrow and apparently on the 14th, not only is it Valentine's day but also 'Thinking about Sex Day'!

I kid you not.

Seriously though, I think it is good to raise awareness about LPAs as it's not something I'd really thought about until my family situation started to get a bit shakey and I could easily have found myself buried in bureaucracy.
 

WILLIAMR

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Apr 12, 2014
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I think the government should have a split your house in to tenants in common ownership and for each parent to will their half of the house to the offspring.
This will mean the LA can not take the value of the house in to account for care fees purposes as long as both parents are not in care at the same time.


William
 

LYN T

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Aug 30, 2012
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Brixham Devon
I think the government should have a split your house in to tenants in common ownership and for each parent to will their half of the house to the offspring.
This will mean the LA can not take the value of the house in to account for care fees purposes as long as both parents are not in care at the same time.


William

Are you suggesting a 'tenants in common' day William? The calendar will get very full soon:)
 

Beate

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May 21, 2014
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Personally I can't wait for Pancake Day. And Chocolate Day. Is there a Chocolate Day?
 
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