I need to investigate the above and wondered if anyone had any experience of setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney or an Advance Decision. Interested to know what it involves to set it up and anything I should consider.
If it’s a sensitive subject please do e-mail me rather than respond here if you would rather communicate that way. Thanks
Hi @HavanaS,
How are you? While you wait to hear from other forum members who may have set up either a power of attorney or an advanced decision, you may find useful to read the information we have on these in our website. You can read about making a power of attorney here and about making an advanced decision here.
I hope you find these website sections helpful.
Best wishes,
Mara (Moderation Team)
Hello HavanaS. We did it ourselves online using the government website which is very good, clear and straightforward. You can ask a solicitor to help but they charge a premium for what is a simple process. The difficult bit - or not - is choosing your attorneys depending on circumstances. The gvt website explains the pros and cons of different options in clear language, easy to understand. We asked friends/neighbours to be witnesses. You do need to set aside time to do it carefully though. There are checklists to help before you submit it.
Hi HavanaS, My wife and I have recently gone through the process using a solicitor. Their Fee was quite substantial, I strongly advise you to follow the advice of Moutainair and do it yourself if you can. I didn.t have the confidence to do so. Their is plenty of information to guide you on the internet. Regards, Gerrard
We got LPA for Mum and Dad nearly 5 years ago. The forms were very complicated but the local branch of Age UK were wonderful and sent one of their staff round to fill the forms in on our behalf, then took them to their solicitors to get made ‘official’. The cost in total for Health & Welfare and Finance for both parents came to about £800, far less than if we’d used our own solicitor.
I understand that the online form these days if much easier and the cost is about 80 quid, but I’d recommend contacting Age UK if you are unsure of anything.
Further to previous answers I arranged both health and property/assets LPAs last year. I completed the online forms without any problem as the gov.uk website is excellent. However I was aware that quite a high percentage of forms were returned due to minor errors which invalidated the legal document and the registration fee was paid again on each resubmission. I decided to get the forms checked by a Will & Probate Service (they were fine) who then completed the process for a substantially reduced fee. This seemed to me to be the best of both worlds, I did the core work of completing the forms with the reassurance they and the registration process had been completed properly at a reasonable price.
My mother goes to a hospice once a week where she was put in touch with a social worker who help people set up LPAs. Two pages were returned to me for one or two amendments… … fingers crossed - hopefully it will be processed. Best of luck to you with yours…
Thank you all so much. It’s great to have so much feedback. Do you have any advice on how to actually bring the subject up? I was thinking that my Dad (who is 80 and doesn’t have Parkinsons), could do it at the same time. My partner also said that maybe the best time to do this kind of thing (an Advance Decision) is years ahead of when you think you might need it (although I realise there are no guarantees in life and things can change in an instant)! So he suggested that we (me and him), might want to do it at the same time to encourage my parents that it is a good thing to do? Do you have any thoughts on this? I am just not sure how to bring the subject up without upsetting my mum (she has had Parkinsons since 2003). A huge thank you to all in advance
Do you not have a family solicitor or a financial adviser whom you could ask to raise the subject on your behalf. Perhaps in the course of conversation when discussing something else?
I could never ‘bring it up’ but; the last time my mother’s carer company was changed, a ‘senior carer’ called in to interview me (in front of mother) and she repeated, several times; that it was very important that I should have LPA as otherwise mother’s finances could be taken over by the government
Might it be easier for you to write to them explaining what you want. to do and why and that you would like to discuss it with them but didn’t know how to bring it up etc. you could post it, leave it with them to read after you leave, stay while they read it, give them a bit of. time to read it or even read it out. Would it be easier to speak. to one of them first or perhaps find a few leaflets. they. can find you reading or placed where they will see. them or maybe just say you want to discuss something with them but don’t know how to start… Maybe there is something there that helps. Good luck…
Just had another thought it might be. easier to start a discussion discussion about a Will, which you could give you a natural opening. or watch this together
https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/putting-your-affairs-order
A couple of points on power of attorney :
The advance decision is much more difficult to address, there’s some really good stuff on the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/end-of-life-care/advance-statement/
I have a lasting power of attorney for both health and finances.
For health my family are well aware of my wishes, I have other health probs as well as Parkinson’s. I think this is essential for peace of mind.
For finances I keep an up to date file of what’s what.
I did mine through a solicitor at the same time as doing my will. I was very glad I did as she came up with secnarios I had never thought of, like what would happen if my son died before I did.
I hope I never need them but they are in the background just in case.
Hi HavanaS
My husband and i have both set up Lasting Powers of Attorney in both categories, finance and health.
We obtained the information online and printed off the forms. It is important to fill all the pages in in the correct numbered order re dates etc. or it will be rejected and you will have wasted your money. It takes a little time but it is not too difficult, and advice is available as to who you should select as attorneys etc. You could get a solicitor to do it for you, at a cost!
We filled in one page with a later date and the form was rejected and we had to do it again (at half price this time!)
good luck
Audrey
Kniine
Thank you everyone. Appreciate your feedback. This has been extremely insightful and has given me the confidence to just go ahead and say it is something we need to do and get on with filling in the forms!
I printed off copies and then used the wording on the government website for certified copies. My husband could sign and date but because of the effects of Parkinson’s on his hands, he couldn’t write the appropriate wording on each page so I set up the ‘Footer’ facility in Word to do this, then ran the copies through the printer. He then signed and dated each page. His pension providers accepted and returned the certified copies but our main bank, Lloyds, needed sight of the original documents. If you can, avoid sending the originals by post! If they are lost you then have to go through another procedure to get new documents.
I believe the cost for registration with the office of public protection is now £82 for each one.
Didn’t occur to me to do it as a footer in Word! Excellent idea. We had an ink stamp made with the specified wording then stamped the bottom of each page of the copies before signing. As we both made both types of LPAs and were making 3 copies of each to save, we hope, our attorneys/each other/children the expense and cost later, there were rather a lot of pages! Stamp now passed on to my brother for his so a good investment.
Absolutely right. In our case it is my husband who has PD & early signs of dementia but though I am healthy at the moment, touch wood, I am much the same age so just said ok, let’s do it and sent him the link to the government website to look at. Once someone loses capacity it is too late.
I’m sure others would like to use your ink stamps, perhaps for a contribution to Parkinson’s UK. Doing it by hand is a tedious exercise since there are so many pages even if you are doing it in the simplest manner and all have to be signed even if there is no useful information on them. It does save a lot of money though. If you have to get certified copies via a solicitor the costs add considerably to the overall exercise. However you do this, you will need certified copies in oder to register the powers of attorney with the relevant bodies.
My mother did not have an LPA but I helped her complete an Advance Decision. It was hard to do, but we followed the suggestion of asking her doctor to look over it. He made some really helpful suggestions and gave the document more validity in the eyes of those who read it.
When Mum was in hospital and very weak and not able to speak for herself…it gave me the peace of mind that I was conveying her thoughts. To the Doctors I spoke to it became not MY words when I refused some treatments…they were my mother’s words and they could read them.
No need to register or wait for lack of capacity to be able to use the document. Mum had one in her bedside drawer and I always took my copy when Mum was admitted to hospital in a very weakened state.
