Guaranteeing your Health and Welfare
Published January 2010
A loved-one’s enjoyment of their final years can depend on who has their true interests at heart, a Shropshire lawyer has warned.
Following cases where care of the elderly has left much to be desired, Fiona Barnes, a partner at MFG Solicitors, is urging people to nominate those they can trust to intervene where necessary.
She believes a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney is the best means of achieving that aim, and, if so wished, also allowing an individual to have a say in how their life comes to an end.
LPAs are already considered the best insurance against a future in which accident or mental incapacity leaves you unable to govern your own financial affairs.
A legal document, it allows for others – perhaps friends or relatives – to help with managing such matters.
“You won’t lose control of your assets, but can protect your finances on your terms,” noted Mrs Barnes.
Last year MFG last year launched a campaign offering the public advice on how to make an LPA.
A Health & Welfare LPA goes one stage further.
Mrs Barnes said: “A capable adult can make an LPA granting legal authority to one or more attorneys to take charge of their health and welfare matters – the likes of liaising with social services and medical practitioners; where to live; dress, diet and outings; contact with others; and consenting to or refusing medical treatment and procedures including, if specifically included, end-of-life decisions.
“Without an LPA, general practitioners, social workers and carers have legal rights to act for you, albeit where appropriate, to consult next of kin and carers. But, if somebody wants to give a person stronger rights, or if there is a dispute in the family, it needs to be clear whose decision counts.
“In such circumstances an LPA is the way to go, clarifying who has the final say.”
Mrs Barnes points out that, without an HWLPA in place, in the event of a dispute between doctor, social workers or family, it is down to someone grasping the nettle and applying to the Court of Protection to be appointed deputy.
“But the Court does not like appointing welfare deputies – it prefers to make a one-off decision.”
And she points out that, with applications costing £400 a time, court fees if there is a dispute, as well as possible legal bills, the financial implications can mount up.
Mrs Barnes said more than 700,000 people were affected by dementia in the UK. “We should all plan for the possibility that we may not always be able to manage, to make it easier for others to help us.
“No one has the automatic legal authority to manage the affairs of another person – but what if the owner can no longer cope?”
An LPA cost a lot less to draw up than making an application to the Court of Protection.
And there was a time factor to consider. Such an application could take several months to resolve, and even then the deputy appointed may not be the one the deceased would have chosen.
In contrast, LPAs are relatively easy to put in place.
