A health and welfare lasting power of attorney is a separate document that can allow you to appoint someone who you trust to make decisions on your behalf about your medical care and physical well-being when you are no longer able to speak up for yourself.

Lasting powers of attorney can only be prepared whilst you are well enough to understand the documents and therefore need to be thought about carefully long before they are actually needed.

If an application has to be made to the court to sort matters out because you have become unwell and you do not have either document in place, it can be a costly and expensive exercise and could potentially lead to an outcome that you would be unhappy with if you were aware of what was going on.

It may be that you never need it at all, so in some ways it is like an insurance policy, but is gambling on your future a risk that you would want to take?

• The process of putting a lasting power of attorney in place takes several weeks to complete and so if you put off doing it until when you do actually need it, this can cause long and difficult delays in accessing your funds to pay for care.
• You can appoint one or more people to be your attorneys and it is usual to choose close family members. They could ultimately have total control over your assets and must therefore be people whom you trust to act in your best interests. If you have no close relatives, or they live abroad, it is possible to appoint a solicitor or accountant to act as your attorney.
• The cost of creating a lasting power of attorney will depend on whether you are also making a will and whether, due to a physical incapacity, we will need to visit you at home or in hospital.