How planning your estate now can help for your future

Lasting power of attorney (LPAs)

LPAs are important if you become unable to make decisions on your own behalf (you ‘lack capacity’) whether temporarily or permanently, for example due to illness, accident or disability. They are arguably more important than a Will, because they cover your decisions whilst you are alive. But not everyone knows about them.

Essentially, LPAs give ‘power’ to people you have nominated (called an ‘attorney’), to make decisions on your behalf when you can’t. There are two types of LPA:

• Property and financial affairs – this covers things such as your money and bills, benefits and pensions, bank accounts and property.
• Health and welfare – this covers things such as making any medical or treatments decisions, and around your social care needs and preferences (from your daily routines to if you need residential care).

LPAs are legal documents and so you have to make them while you have capacity to make decisions (you won’t be able to make one after you lose capacity). You can have one type of LPA, or both. Although you can complete an LPA form yourself, it is often a good idea to get legal help to do this. Once complete, the forms have to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (you will have to pay a court fee for this). It is worth noting that as soon as it is registered the LPA can be used even if you still have capacity (unless the document specifies that it cannot). It’s important to tell key people in your life that you have an LPA(s), and to keep a copy with your medical notes (for example, with your GP).

Advance directives (or ‘living Wills’) are another way to make your wishes known, and can sit alongside an LPA. They include detailed and specific instructions of things you would like to happen, or not to happen, regarding your treatment and care.

Again, making others aware of your directive, including your medical team, is important so that your wishes are known and considered.

Wills

Wills are important because they describe what you want to happen with your ‘estate’ (such as your money, property and possessions) after you die. It ensures that your estate goes to the people and causes that are important to you. There is often an assumption that ‘everything will automatically go to my spouse or next of kin’. However, this is not always the case, and so a Will is vitally important. Not having a Will means you die ‘intestate’ and special legal rules will determine what happens to your estate. This can make it complicated for those left behind, and your estate may not go where you want it to.

You need to appoint executors for your Will: people who will deal with your estate and ensure that the instructions in your Will are followed. The executors can also be beneficiaries of the Will (people who will receive something in your Will). It’s important to consider any dependants (whether people or pets) so that you can include specific instructions in your Will to look after them, for example, identifying guardians who would look after your children.

Wills can be complex. Although you can essentially ‘leave what you want to who you want’ there are certain obligations around tax (such as inheritance tax or capital gains tax), which may be important, depending on the value of your estate and who you are leaving it to.

You can make a Will yourself, but it can help to have legal advice (particularly if your estate or wishes are complex, or you are leaving anything to someone under 16 years old, a vulnerable person or in a trust). They can also explain the legal wording around Wills, to ensure that you understand what your Will says. You must have capacity to make the Will, and not be pressured by others to make it. Your Will needs to be signed by you, and witnessed by two people. It’s also important to review your Will every few years, to ensure that your situation (for example, a divorce or change in your estate) and wishes (who you want to leave things to) haven’t changed, and to destroy any previous Wills you have made.

These topics are complicated, so you might like to get independent legal advice about what is right for you. You can read more on the Gov website or on the Age UK website.