When you find out that you or a loved one’s mental health is deteriorating do not put off putting your legal and financial affairs in order. As well as seeing your GP, come and see us too.
The onset and progression of this sort of difficulty may be slow but this is not always the case and it is reassuring to know that everything is in order at an early stage when there are not likely to be difficulties in proving that you have the official legal capacity to make legal documents like your will and to make gifts.
Having the house in one name only can be a nightmare for the spouse if the person whose name it is become mentally incapable and therefore is not able to make a will or gift it to them. A very sad scenario develops if the spouse with the mental incapacity has to go into residential care.
A Lasting Power of attorney is a sensible and cost effective step to take taken at an early stage it is more cost effective and swift than the alternative.
What happens if I do not make an LPA and then I lose my mental capacity?
Then you can do nothing and neither can anyone else until a lengthy and costly application is made to the Court of Protection in London to appoint someone to be your Deputy who can do normal day to day transactions for you. Currently such applications are taking in excess of 6 months to be processed.
The general appointment of an Deputy does not allow them deal with property or to make a will and further applications have to be made for the court’s permission to do this. The permission is not always granted and the process can take several months to complete.
