WILLS/WILL TRUSTS
Synopsis: The Government has announced plans to hold a national event to raise awareness of the Mental Capacity Act, with particular emphasis on increasing the level of awareness and understanding of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA).
Date posted: Thursday, June 19, 2014
As part of the official response to the House of Lords Select Committee report on the Mental Capacity Act, the Government has announced its plans to hold a ‘life planning day’ in 2015 to raise awareness of LPAs and other life planning mechanisms such as will-making.
The campaign, which aims (among other things) to improve understanding of LPAs, will be backed by a plan to ensure that information concerning registered LPAs can be shared between public bodies, and some private sector bodies such as banks and utilities.
The government will look at ways of supporting attorneys and deputies in their dealings with public bodies and private companies. They will also review the apparent anomalies in the current arrangements with regard to successive replacement attorneys, and the status in England of Scottish Powers of Attorney.
COMMENT
The Government estimates that as many as two million people living in England may lack the capacity to make specific decisions at any given time, and wants the registering of LPAs to become a matter of course for most people rather than something that is only considered when health starts to deteriorate. The campaign will be welcomed by practitioners and attorneys alike and will provide an impetus for clients to review their financial affairs.
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