1. Can anyone be an Attorney for a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Answer. You can choose anyone over the age of 18. For the Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power Attorney the person you choose cannot be bankrupt.
2. What is a Certificate provider and who can I appoint when preparing a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Answer. A certificate provider is an independent person who will sign the LPA to confirm that no fraud or undue pressure has been used to influence the donor into making the LPA.
3. What is the order of signing a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Answer. The donor must sign first, followed by the witness. When the donor has signed the Certificate provider will sign their section. Finally, the Attorneys and replacement Attorneys sign after and then witnessed.
4. When can my Attorneys act for me when I have a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Answer. For the Health and Welfare LPA, the Attorneys can only act when the donor has lost the ability to make their own decisions. For the Property and Financial Affairs LPA with the donor’s permission, as stated in the document, the Attorney can step in and assist the donor with decision-making before mental capacity is lost.
5. What is section 5 of a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney and why is it important?
Answer. By choosing Option B the Attorneys will not be able to give or refuse consent to life-sustaining treatment on your behalf. All decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment would be made by the medical professionals. The exception would be if the donor had made an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment.
Continued next week 5 more FAQs regarding lasting Power of Attorney