Health & Welfare LPA

What is a Health & Welfare Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that allows you to appoint a family member or friend to make decisions on your behalf should at any time in the future you are unable to make your own informed decisions about your Property, Finances, health or welfare.  Once your LPA has been registered your attorney will be able to make decisions on your behalf.

There are two types of LPA.

1. Health & Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney.

This type of LPA enables you to appoint an attorney to make decisions for you when it is in connection with your personal health or your welfare.  The appointed Attorney is only able to make decisions on your health and welfare.

You are able to give the attorney power to make decisions about:

• Any current or future medical treatment.
• Whether you wish to accept or refuse different types of health care.
• Whether you are able to stay living at home or be moved into residential care.
• Whether or not to accept treatment or choose not to be accept life sustaining treatment.

A Health & Welfare LPA will not allow the attorney to make any decisions in relation to your finances or your property and can only be used if you have lost the mental capacity to make decisions and if you are unlikely to be able to make a recovery.

A LPA cannot be used until it has been registered with the Office of Public Guardian.   The time taken to register an LPA can be up to 10 weeks and this will be subject to a fee payable to the Court on application.