Legal News | 10.12.20

This NYE make your resolution to review your LPA

It is three weeks until 31st December, when many of us will be staying up until midnight not to see the new year in (it’s not like we can enjoy a sociable party) but to see the old year out. What a year 2020 has been, and you have had plenty of time to get fit, improve your baking skills and learn a new language. So what is left for a new year’s resolution?

At Wansbroughs, we recommend making your new year’s resolution to review your Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”).

If you have made a LPA, or even have an old Enduring Power of Attorney, you might be wondering why you need to review it. In 2015, the Office of the Public Guardian (“OPG”) published guidance which suggested that attorneys acting under a LPA do not have authority to delegate investment management decisions to an investment manager unless there is a specific instruction to this effect in the LPA.

Following the OPG’s guidance, some investment managers are unwilling to manage investments of a client who has lost mental capacity unless there is a specific instruction to this effect in their LPA. Others have additional requirements for doing so. As such, it is a good idea to review your LPA with your investment manager as well as with your solicitor.

If you would like to make a LPA or review an existing one, Wansbroughs would be happy to help. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your usual Wansbroughs contact or e-mail wealth@wansbroughs.com.