Who Can Decide for You?

1. Choosing before you need help

Can someone help manage your money without taking over your decisions? With a Lasting Power of Attorney, the answer can be yes. But the rules are different when it comes to decisions about your care. ^{[4] [6]}

A Lasting Power of Attorney, or LPA, is a legal document through which you appoint one or more people to help make decisions, or make decisions on your behalf. You are called the donor; the people you appoint are your attorneys. ^[1]

This explanation concerns England and Wales. Scotland uses continuing and welfare powers of attorney. Northern Ireland has an Enduring Power of Attorney for financial matters, rather than the two types of LPA we are exploring here. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Why might you want one? An accident or illness could leave you unable to make decisions yourself. An LPA lets you choose beforehand who may act for you, rather than leaving that choice until you cannot make it. ^{[1] [4]}

You must be at least eighteen and have capacity to make the LPA. It must then be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. ^{[1] [4] [8]}

2. Help with a bill

The first type is a Property and Financial Affairs LPA. It covers money and property decisions, including managing bank accounts and paying bills. ^{[1] [6]}

Imagine you understand your electricity bill and know what you want to do, but find dealing with the supplier difficult. You want someone else to handle it for you.

A financial LPA can allow that help even while you still have mental capacity. Three things need to be in place: the LPA must be registered, its terms must allow use while you have capacity, and you must give permission. ^{[4] [6]}

Your attorney can then deal with the bill under that authority. You still control your finances; appointing someone has not automatically transferred every financial decision to them. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

You can instead choose a financial LPA that allows your attorneys to act only once you lack capacity. So registration makes the document usable, but its terms determine when the help can begin. ^{[4] [6]}

And capacity means the ability to make a particular decision at the time it needs to be made. It is not a blanket judgement about every choice in someone's life. ^{[4] [8]}

3. Who decides about care?

The second type is a Health and Welfare LPA. This covers decisions about daily routine, medical care, support at home and where you live. ^{[4] [7]}

Suppose a move into residential care is being considered. The starting point is whether you can make that decision yourself, with support where possible. If you can, it remains your decision. A registered Health and Welfare LPA does not let your attorney make it for you simply because you would prefer them to. ^{[4] [7] [8]}

If you cannot make that particular decision, your health-and-welfare attorney may decide within the authority you have given them, acting in your best interests. ^{[5] [7] [8]}

That is the crucial difference. Financial help can sometimes begin with your permission while you still have capacity. Health and welfare decision-making authority depends on your lacking capacity for the matter in question. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

The subject matter matters too: authority to decide about residential care is not, by itself, authority to manage your bank account. The two LPAs cover different responsibilities. ^{[1] [6] [7]}

There are specific limits within those responsibilities. For example, an attorney needs express authority in the Health and Welfare LPA to decide about life-sustaining treatment. ^{[4] [8]}

4. Responsibility, not ownership

Whichever type is involved, an attorney must stay within the document's terms and legal limits, help you make your own decisions where possible, and act in your best interests. They must not use the position for their own benefit. ^{[4] [5] [8]}

These are responsibilities towards you, not ownership of your affairs. That is why choosing whom to appoint deserves thought. ^{[5] [8]}

And lasting does not mean lasting beyond your lifetime. An LPA ends when you die. It does not give your attorney authority to carry on managing your money or possessions afterwards. ^{[9] [10]}

Responsibility for your estate belongs instead to a personal representative: an executor or administrator. That is a separate legal role, not a continuation of the LPA. ^{[9] [10]}

The reason to consider an LPA is therefore about life, not inheritance: choosing who may help you, with which decisions, and under what conditions, while you can still make that choice. ^{[1] [4] [9] [10]}