Did you know that legally, if you have a bank account and have lost capacity, the bank can decide to restrict the use of the account temporarily until a deputy has been appointed through the courts? This even applies to joint bank accounts and married couples - so spouses are not automatically entitled to access their partner's funds.
How would your family cope if you had a sudden illness or accident and your partner couldn’t access the joint bank account?
A Property and Financial Affairs LPA will allow you to retain some control over your financial affairs, allowing you to choose the decisions you want to be made on your behalf, the people you want to make these decisions; and, to an extent, even how you would like those people to make such decisions.
Financial decisions might be about:
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paying your household, care and other bills
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making or selling investments
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buying or selling your home
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opening, closing and using your bank and building society accounts
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claiming, receiving and using your benefits, pensions and allowances.
You choose whether your attorneys can act for you as soon as the LPA is registered or only if you no longer have mental capacity.
Once drafted, your Property and Financial Affairs LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (which can take up to 20 weeks) before it can be relied upon.
Contact me to discuss your Property and Financial Affairs LPA