• March 28, 2024
 Lasting Powers of Attorney – is your practice ‘Planning Ahead’?

Lasting Powers of Attorney – is your practice ‘Planning Ahead’?

The Ministry of Justice is launching a “planning for the future” campaign next month to raise public awareness of LPAs and to get the message across: “Make the choice. Don’t take the chance”.

“We want people to view LPAs as an important part of planning for their family’s future,” said a spokesperson for the campaign, which will be encouraging younger people in their 20s and 30s to talk to their parents about LPAs and to consider creating one for themselves. Will you be promoting this campaign within your practice? Do you currently receive enquiries from people under the age of 30 regarding LPAs?

Recent statistics show that there are around 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, of whom 40,000 are under 65 – with this number forecast to exceed one million by 2025 according to the Alzheimer’s Society. This means potentially the need for Lasting Powers of Attorney will increase.

If you raised the matter of LPAs with members of the public, the answer could well be that it is too expensive, or something that is not required right now. And would most 25 year olds really be thinking about such matters so far in advance? Bearing in mind professional costs vary considerably for the preparation and drafting of LPAs and the fact your target audience can complete their own documents online (plus OPG fees) this can be a deciding factor for many. So why do clients ultimately go to the professionals? Do you think it is essential consumers seek professional help in completing an LPA? It’s likely your clients will have specific questions which will require specific answers. Bearing in mind the work involved in completing LPAs, do you consider your practice fees for such work proportionate? Typically, its estimated costs vary from £400 to around £1000.

Do your practice’s statistics reflect age related variation for the preparation of LPAs or do you find it is usually a matter your clients only attend to when circumstances prevail? Who wants to think about losing capacity? It’s not an easy subject to raise.

Effectively a client is handing over control of their life matters, so a decision as to whom they give that control to must be an appropriately deciding factor for them and one which you cannot make for them but are perhaps asked frequently. What measures do you have in place to ensure client’s needs are dealt with satisfactorily? Do you have a questionnaire or a process in place to cater for individual client’s needs?

Government statistics show that 7,522 Lasting Powers of Attorney were completed online for the period February 2014 to January 2015 of which 6,313 were in paper form and 1,209 were completed online. Are you surprised by these figures? How does your practice currently prepare and complete LPAs?

Statistics for 2013 revealed that nearly 250,000 LPAs were registered at the Office of The Public Guardian (Annual Report & Accounts 2012/2013). Also it’s estimated that were around 440,000 people aged 90 and over living in England and Wales (Estimates 2002-2011 Office for National Statistics). Are your marketing campaigns targeting the right audience in terms of the number of clients you see, with age as a factor for LPAs? Or does your firm rely on client recommendation?

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