At GLC, we believe that both Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney are equally valuable and worthwhile documents, and they are quite different. People tend to worry about what will happen after their death and how to ensure that their estates will be administered in accordance with their wishes, so they make Wills, but fewer people seem to be concerned with how their affairs would be dealt with if they were still alive, but had an accident or illness that meant that they were no longer able to make or communicate decisions for themselves. This sort of situation is more common than you think, and without putting Lasting Powers of Attorney in place, it can leave a real mess for your family. Bills cannot be paid, bank accounts cannot be accessed, and property cannot be sold whilst money for ongoing care and expenses can start to mount up. If the person is mentally incapable of making decisions about their health and welfare, and there is no legal authority in place for a chosen person to speak on their behalf, then it is down to the medical professionals and care staff to make the overriding decisions regarding the patient. Whilst they will make those decisions on the basis they believe them to be in the patient’s best interests, those best interests may not be the same as the patient’s wishes. By having powers of attorney in place in advance, this avoids family members needing to make applications for Deputyship to the Court of Protection, which is a much longer and involved process, not to mention more expenses.

GLC can take your instructions for both Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney at one initial appointment and complete everything at a second, so more documents doesn’t necessarily mean more meetings, nor does it mean more cost. We agree with your daughter – you should definitely consider doing both. We offer fixed fees on both Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney, which are tiered in cost according to the complexity of your instructions. We are transparent about our costs so you can make an informed decision on how to proceed, and due to the timeline of the processes and how they tie together, the costs are payable for each document separately, often a few weeks apart.

At GLC we can provide you with a quote for our costs at the outset of the matter and we can also talk to you about the fees payable on registration to the court and help you see if you are eligible for any exemption or remission of those fees.