Lasting Powers of Attorney: are you ever too young?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which allows another person to look after your affairs. There are two types, one for Property and Finances (P&F), and the other for Health and Care decisions (H&C). As you might have guessed, the P&F document allows someone else – someone you choose – to look after your finances and assets, e.g., access bank accounts, sell any property you own, deal with your bills, etc. The H&C document on the other hand allows someone else to – yep – make decisions concerning your health and your care. This can extend to even consenting or denying life-sustaining treatment, should you not have the capacity to decide for yourself.

Anybody aged 18 or over can make an LPA, but we usually associate them with an older generation who may have mobility issues or concerns about dementia. Many people don’t even consider putting them in place until they have had that awful dementia diagnosis, at which point it’s too late. But why is it we don’t consider LPAs as being for the younger generations? Below are some high-profile examples of some of the circumstances that would be covered by an LPA.

Michael Schumacher

It’s been almost a decade since F1 Legend Michael Schumacher suffered a freak skiing accident whilst holidaying in France. In brief, Schumacher – an avid and accomplished skier – fell and hit his head in December 2013 at the age of 44 and subsequently had to be placed in an induced coma.

Since the summer of 2014, the details of Schumacher’s recovery have been sparse, but his family have advised that he is home and continuing with his therapy and recovery. This is despite the fact there were initially serious concerns he would be left in a persistent vegetative state as a result of his injuries. 

Emilia Clarke & Sharon Stone

Two women you wouldn’t immediately think of as having a connection, but both ladies suffered ‘subarachnoid haemorrhages’ at the ages of 22 and 43 respectively. Emilia Clarke has spoken of her experience of Aphasia, meaning she was unable to communicate or understand those trying to communicate with her, and she was even unable to recall her own name. Similarly, Sharon Stone has been very vocal in discussing her financial struggles as brought about by her own haemorrhage, which resulted in a nine-day-long coma and seven long years of recuperation.

Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore posted a statement on Instagram in early 2023 confirming the actor has been diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia. Whilst we would usually associate any kind of dementia with the elderly, this particular type can be diagnosed from as young as 21 years of age and can be characterised by difficulties in communicating or understanding language, as well as disordered movement. It can also take quite some time to obtain a proper diagnosis, as many of the early symptoms mimic depression.

Britney Spears

Potentially the most public of capacity losses, Britney Spears infamously shaved off all her hair and attacked a photographer with an umbrella whilst suffering a severe breakdown at the age of 25. With no other safety net in place, the singer’s father was left in charge of her finances and ultimately abused his position to control her and her finances well beyond her recovery stage, including forcing her to take contraception against her will.

Under any of these circumstances, it is easy to see how family disputes can arise, especially when considering it could actually be legally impossible for your loved ones to handle your affairs; or where a blood relative is appointed by the courts despite the fact you wouldn’t trust them with a bar of chocolate, let alone anything bigger. It then becomes a very lengthy and very costly process to rectify.

Additionally, incidents such as these remind us of how quickly our lives could change and really highlights the importance of considering our future. None of us ever expects any of these scenarios to impact us, but neither did the above celebrities.

The H&C document can only be used when you have actually lost the capacity to make your own decisions and would allow somebody you trust to make these important decisions for you, such as where you should live and even what kind of treatment you should undergo. This is especially important for many, e.g., those with specific religious beliefs, who may wish to avoid certain treatments such as blood transfusions. On the flip side of that, the P&F document can be used whilst you still have the capacity (provided you have given your consent) and could be particularly helpful if you decide to, e.g., just take time out to travel. It would allow your trusted Attorney to access your finances, for example, to pay your mobile phone bill whilst you’re hiking the Inca Trail or backpacking in Barcelona.

The documents themselves can be quite complicated to fill in correctly, but that’s where we come in. For peace of mind, it’s worth asking your solicitor to step in to act as a professional Certificate Provider and witness to ensure everything is completed correctly, and ultimately minimise the chances of your application being rejected on an administrative error – believe me, it happens. The Private Client team at Chadwick Lawrence have a wealth of experience with these types of documents and are well adept at ensuring everything is spot on so that you’re ready for whatever life throws at you.