In Stockport, a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legally binding document that authorises a designated individual to make decisions on your behalf in the event that you lose mental capacity. There are two distinct types: one pertains to property and financial affairs, while the other concerns health and welfare. An LPA may be established at any time; however, it must be formally registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be enacted.
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We are experts in dealing with Powers of Attorney applications and offer no nonsense, jargon free advice in Reddish and Brinnington and all areas of Stockport. All our Power of Attorney work is done for a fixed fee.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that authorises someone else to act on your behalf if you are physically or mentally incapable of managing your affairs.
If you don’t make an LPA and later become unable to make certain decisions for yourself, no one will be legally able to make such decisions for you. This can make tasks like paying bills or paying for care more challenging, as well as making decisions regarding your future care.
If this occurs, you may need to petition to the Court of Protection for a deputyship. This grants them powers similar to those of an attorney. You can designate a professional or a relative or friend to be your deputy. Become a deputy takes a lot longer and costs a lot more money than being an LPA. A deputy must also perform things on a regular basis, such as pay an annual fee and file an annual report, therefore being an attorney rather than a deputy is usually easier.
The following are some of the advantages of a Lasting Power of Attorney:
• You can choose your own attorneys – people you know you can trust completely
• You will pay substantially less than if you were required to apply to the Court of Protection, and the costs of a LPA are a one off fixed fee payment, whereas there are on-going annual costs when dealing with the Court of Protection
• Your LPA can be registered immediately while you still have capacity, and then should you lose capacity the LPA will be ready for immediate use, meaning there will be no ‘gap’ in the running of your financial affairs, whereas an application to the Court of Protection could take several months, meaning your family could struggle financially to keep you whilst the Court application is in the process
• You can put limits on what your attorneys can do, so if there is anything you particularly do not want your attorneys to deal with you can clarify this from the outset, rather than leaving it up to the discretion of the Court of Protection, who have no real knowledge of what you personally would want
Contact us now on 0800 368 9770 to start your application. We’re waiting for your call.
This covers the day-to-day and bigger-picture money decisions your attorney can make for you, including:
With your permission, this LPA can be used even while you still have full mental capacity — handy if you’re recovering from an operation, or simply want the extra support.
This covers decisions about your day-to-day care and medical treatment, including:
Unlike the financial LPA, this one can only be used once you’ve lost the mental capacity to make the decision yourself.
People sometimes come to us holding an older document and aren’t sure if it still works. Here’s the quick version:
If you’re not sure what you or a family member currently has in place, bring it along when we visit and we’ll tell you straight where you stand.
Anyone can create an LPA, and we recommend that you do so in addition to making a Will. Although most people imagine using LPA to manage the affairs of an older family suffering from dementia, disorders that impair your ability to make decisions about your health, welfare, or finances can affect anyone at any age. Some conditions that may necessitate the use of an LPA include:
Dementia
Alzheimer’s
Stroke
Accidental brain damage
Impaired by drugs or alcohol
Coma
Concussion
The illness that requires you to set up an LPA could be short-term, such as an injury that requires a hospital stay, or long-term, such as an ongoing mental health issue or a stroke.
If the worst happens, having Power of Attorney in place ensures your chosen attorney won’t have to go to court to manage your affairs while simultaneously dealing with the broader implications of your position.
Timescales: Once we’ve visited you and taken your instructionsand have all the relevant signatures we typically have your documents drafted and ready to sign within 3 days. Registration is then out of our hands — the OPG’s own processing time currently runs to several months from submission, on top of the four-week statutory waiting period built into every application. This is exactly why we always say: don’t wait for a health scare before you make your LPA. The earlier it’s in place, the earlier your family has peace of mind.
If someone loses mental capacity without a registered LPA, their husband, wife, or adult children cannot simply step in and start dealing with the bank, the pension provider or the care home — even if that seems like common sense. Instead, the family has to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order. Compared to an LPA, that route is:
An LPA avoids all of this by putting the decision in your hands now, while you’re able to make it.
Every LPA needs a certificate provider — someone who confirms you understand what you’re signing, that you’re doing so of your own free will, and that no one is pressuring you. This is one of the law’s key safeguards against abuse.
A certificate provider can be:
Where appropriate, we can act as your certificate provider as part of our home visit service, so you don’t need to track down a third party separately.
The LPA process is being modernised under the Powers of Attorney Act 2023, which will bring in online registration, stronger identity checks to guard against fraud, and a requirement that only the donor can start the registration process. Paper applications will remain available for those who prefer them, or who aren’t comfortable online — which is exactly the kind of person our home visit service is designed for. Whatever changes on the OPG’s side, our advice and your legal protection stay the same.
Contact us to arrange a visit to discuss your wishes and options
Our legal experts completes your application before submission
We submit your application to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration
We visit clients across Reddish, Brinnington and every postcode area of Stockport, entirely free of charge, at a time that suits you. If a loved one is in a care home or hospital, we can usually visit there too — just ask.
Davenport, Edgeley, Adswood, Reddish, Brinnington, Bredbury, Romiley, Woodley, Marple, Marple Bridge, High Lane , Bramhall, Hazel Grove, Woodford, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Gatley, Heald Green, Wilmslow, Handforth, Styal , Disley, Poynton, Four Heatons, Heaton Moor, Offerton
No. The home visit is included in our fixed fee — there’s no separate call-out charge, however many times we need to visit.
Yes. Most of the people we see aren’t able to easily get to a solicitor’s office, which is the whole reason our service exists. We’re happy to visit hospitals and care homes as well as private homes, subject to the setting’s own visiting arrangements
We cover all Stockport postcode areas, including Reddish and Brinnington, as standard. We also offer home visits more widely — see our coverage area page for details.
Our fees are fixed and agreed with you before we start — see the table above or our full price list. On top of our fee, the OPG charges £92 to register each LPA (£184 for both), unless you qualify for a fee reduction or exemption.
Yes, if it was made before October 2007. It will still need to be registered with the OPG when it’s needed, and because it only covers property and finances, we’d usually recommend also putting a Health & Welfare LPA in place.
Yes. You can cancel or amend your LPA at any time while you still have mental capacity, including after it’s been registered. We can guide you through the process if your circumstances change.
