None of us like to think that one day we might need someone to sort things out for us. But appointing someone to be your Power of Attorney is one of the most important and overlooked things you can do – regardless of your age or state of health.
Getting Powers of Attorney in place means arranging for someone to make decisions on your behalf. It means that your family or someone else you trust, can take charge of your finances, assets and decisions about healthcare, if you’re no longer able to decide or voice things for yourself. Without it, there’s a long and costly process ahead.
But having a conversation with your parents or your partner or other family members about setting one up, can be difficult because none of us like to think that we’ll need it. Nobody knows what the future holds and it may seem too early to have these conversations now, but it can also be too late. It might seem daunting and so if a direct approach isn’t for you, there might be subtler ways
How to start a conversation and what to include
- Begin by talking about what you’d want to happen if something were to happen to you. Talk about who you’d chose as your powers of attorney so your family know your wishes – it’s a good thing to talk about anyway because if there is ever a time when your family need to make choices on your behalf, they’ll have a reference point. This is a natural route to finding out about each other’s plans too.
- Talk about someone you know who has been in hospital and ask your parent or partner what they would do in a similar situation.
- Talk about the different insurances we take out. Having a power of attorney is like having insurance. It makes no difference to anything right now, but it’s there ready if you need it. You can’t be too early setting one up but you can be too late.
- Suggest that everyone in the family makes a power of attorney at the same time so it doesn’t seem as though you’re just targeting the older people in the family. Or if you’ve got one already, suggest reviewing it to make sure it still reflects what you’d want.
- Point out that a power of attorney isn’t for the benefit of the attorney. It’s purely to protect the person making it.
- Be prepared to do more listening than talking. Ask what their thoughts are. Make sure you hear them out before voicing any opinions of your own. Debating plans you might not agree with probably won’t be too helpful early on. And don’t expect to get everything wrapped up in one or two conversations.
- Explain that if the (relatively small) cost of making a power of attorney is putting them off, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the thousands it could cost for a family to have to act without one – not to mention delays and stress of having to go through the Court of Protection.
Make a Power of Attorney in March for less
We’re running an initiative to make this more affordable so in March you can make a Powers of Attorney for £199 each, per person, plus vat. Our usual price is £250 plus vat.
What next?
Call us on 01623 45 11 11 or email us at poa@fidler.co.uk. Our professional and friendly team will keep all your information confidential and will help you understand the process and what’s involved.