20 July 2023
The value of Lasting Powers of Attorney for successful estate planning
After wealth managers Quilter obtained figures on Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), it has been shown that roughly 20,000 applications are rejected each year due to mistakes.
Writing for Campden FB, partner Owen Byrne discusses the findings of the Freedom of Information request that resulted in these figures being divulged and emphasises the importance of LPAs in the context of estate planning.
‘One reason cited to Quilter was the inclusion of unreasonable LPA requests: internal cohesion, if you like. We often have clients who are happy that ‘minor’ decisions are made by attorneys jointly or individually, but that a ‘major’ decision, such as selling the family home, has to be done by all attorneys jointly. The wording has to be very accurate to avoid any internal conflict and more importantly be workable for the attorneys.’
The full article can be accessed on the Campden FB website.