Accidents, incidents and unavoidable injuries can occur at anytime, anywhere. As much as we like to think we are indestructible (I do in particular) and that ‘it will not happen to me’, unfortunately life is not that easy to predict.

We’re talking about car crashes, heart attacks, strokes or just falling off of a ladder which do not kill you but leave you incapacitated, mentally or physically. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a document you sign to appoint Attorneys (often family members) to act for you should you, for any reason, become unable to manage your own affairs or you are too ill to deal with your own health.

Take Formula 1 racing driver Michael Schumacher for example, an athletic, talented, healthy family man who spent years putting his life on the line to feed his own desire for success but to also entertain millions. On December 29^th 2013 Michael was left incapacitated from a split-second accident, totally unrelated to racing and something that could have happened to anyone – hitting his head on a rock when on a skiing holiday. The incident left Michael fighting for his life, in hospital, in a coma. On the 16^th June 2014 Michael’s manager confirmed that he had left hospital and was no longer in a coma. He went home to a special rehab room in September 2014.

Whilst I know Michael Schumacher was one of the most amazing, inspirational racing drivers ever, what I do not know is if he had anything in place to protect all the money he had made throughout his life or what kind of protection he had in place, for his family, whilst unable to make decisions for himself.

If Michael’s situation was someone living in Britain and they did NOT have an LPA in place-

No one would be able to legally access bank accounts (they may even be frozen), or access billing accounts, held in his name. During this traumatic time for the family, matters would be made more stressful when they found out that the only way his affairs could be managed is by an application to the Court of Protection. This can take up to 12 months to arrange, during which time his finances could be seriously damaged and the health care of that person may not be as they want. On top of this, the individual authorised by the Court of Protection to handle their affairs, is not only unlikely to be the person whom they wish (like a family member) but may even be a court official – who can (and will) charge every time that Court Appointed Representative acts, like paying a bill or withdrawing cash on his behalf. If you think being charged £1.75 at an ATM to get your cash out is bad, you wait until you see how much a Court Appointed Deputy will charge to withdraw money from the account of someone who has lost capacity.

If Michael’s situation was someone living in Britain and they DID have an (registered) LPA in place-:

The attorneys could act immediately, paying any bills or making decisions about what he is wearing in the hospital bed for example. The Attorney would essentially take over the person’s bank account as if it were their own and become the voice of the person who is unable to communicate.

So what stops your Attorney just taking control of your life before you want them to?

When you set up an LPA you have a decision to make, do you want to register it immediately OR register it only if/when it is needed?

You only need to have capacity when you set up the LPA, you do not need capacity to register it. Registration is done by sending the LPA documents to the Office of Public Guardian (OPG). It typically takes around 6 weeks, at the moment, to get registered and there is a small charge for registration.

Even though an LPA is registered it does not mean you hand over all of your finances to your Attorneys immediately (although you can do this if you wish – normally older people do this to save them having to keep going to the bank or generally managing their finances). The Attorneys can only take control (once registered) with you say so or with a doctor’s note stating you have lost capacity.

If the LPA is unregistered, the Attorneys can get it registered with the OPG on your behalf but would need to provide evidence (a doctor’s letter) that capacity has been lost.

Don’t forget you would only appoint attorneys as people you trust – usually spouse, partner or family member.

This is not a monthly insurance policy; it is a one-off cost that protects you/ your family for life while you are alive. If you would like to know more about LPA’s please click here or give us a call on 01553 860123 to get our low cost fixed fee for this service.

Michael Schumacher is a public example of someone who I wanted to believe was indestructible and his amazing fight for life shows signs of that. He has shown that accidents CAN happen and you need to make sure that if they do, you have done everything in advance to make life easier for yourself and those around you.

Good luck to Michael with his recovery.