It may seem counter-intuitive to look at stopping being an attorney when so much if what I promote is proactive Advance Care Planning, including having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place. I believe it is important to understand how the role of an attorney may end right at the beginning of making a Lasting Power of Attorney because it could influence how the document is drafted. This is the last of three blogs exploring how an attorneyship could end.

In the previous blog I answered the question “Can I stop being an attorney?” I wrote from the perspective of an attorney wanting to relinquish the role or disclaim the attorneyship and described how this could be carried out. To follow the theme of stopping being an attorney, this blog describes how a donor could remove an attorney.

A friend of mine is an attorney for her neighbour, but is now struggling to act as an attorney through her own ill health – she has asked me if she can “stop” being an attorney, a question that I’ll explore in this blog. I’ll start by explaining what a Lasting Power of Attorney is, then how and when and attorney could act and finally describe how an attorney can stop or relinquish their role.

Questions about using a Lasting Power of Attorney once the document has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian continues to be one of the most frequent questions I am asked. This blog answers another question I have recently been asked around the subject of LPAs and activation keys, specifically, how long does the activation code last?

Some time ago I applied for funding and was rejected because I am not a registered charity; that started me thinking, and from that I created a list of the pro bono work I do. To continue providing information, support and resource I am offering sponsorship opportunities for individuals and organisations. Find out how you can be involved.

This blog explores what a Lasting Power of Attorney is, the different types of Lasting Power of Attorney and the options you have when making your Lasting Power of Attorney. The cost of each option is explained and there are key questions you should be aware of when choosing how and who to do your Lasting Power of Attorney.

I attended an in-person hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice which addressed some of the challenges encountered by people making Lasting Powers of Attorney. You can find out more about what happened when questions were asked about lead attorneys, majority decision making and replacing replacement attorneys in a blog I wrote for the Open Justice Court of Protection Project The logic, law and language of Lasting Power of Attorney: A case before Hayden J

In the name of research, I set out this week to see what ChatGPT could tell me about Advance Care Planning. I am relatively late to the ChatGPT party and approach the AI era with very mixed views, however I realise the genie is out of the bottle and I’m keen to understand more. I challenged ChatGPT to come up with a blog “explaining what Advance Care Planning is and why it matters for everyone.”

Looking at the 54 blogs published so far, I realised there is one rather large gap. I have written about Lasting Power of Attorney through many lenses, posted experiences from the Open Justice Court of Protection, reported on polls and charted my own Advance Care Planning but seem to have missed writing about a key element of my work - that of a Lasting Power of Attorney Consultant.

This short blog is in response to a recent query I had following the registration of a client’s Lasting Power of Attorney and the potential for confusion around the word “activation”.

I’m writing this post Dying Matters Awareness Week 2023, the aim of which is to encourage and normalise discussion about matters which are typically taboo. Death and dying, grief and bereavement are things we avoid talking about; Advance Care Planning sits at that table too. This blog shares a model I have developed to help talk about and explain Advance Care Planning.

This short blog is in response to a recent query I had following the registration of a client’s Lasting Power of Attorney and the potential for confusion around the word “activation”.

Can you claim a refund of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Registration fees if a donor dies before the LPA is registered? This feels something sensitive but important to blog about today for a couple of reasons; firstly, I found it hard to get to a full answer on-line and secondly, because I hope that by explaining it I can help people by providing a question to ask any person who is drafting their Lasting Power of Attorney.

This blog is a pleasure to write; it is a chance to step back and honour where the question came from, identify what has been learned and share next steps. I’ll start with the person who contributed to the vision, describe the formal project that evolved and share the translation of the project into planning and actions.

This morning, at my local gym, I was asked an LPA question which makes a great starter for this week’s blog. It’s a question that I suspect applies to many people and I hope to raise awareness, conversations and action.

This week’s short blog focuses on a commonly asked question; can you add an attorney to an existing Lasting Power of Attorney? I’ll answer the question and include why it’s important to know this when making your Lasting Power of Attorney.

Can you be an attorney for a Lasting Power of Attorney if you have an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)? This is a question I was asked recently; to find out I had to do a little detective work and will reveal the answer here.

I found myself saying, “if I die…” Holly caught my eye and gave a wry smile; I’d fallen into language of uncertainty in the one event that is certain. Our meeting was to plan my funeral and it was scheduled after I’d interviewed Holly, a holistic funeral director, for a podcast. I’d been so impressed with what I had learned through our discussion and it felt right to tackle this next stage of my Advance Care Planning

What is an Enduring Power of Attorney and do I need a Lasting Power of Attorney if I have an Enduring Power of Attorney are questions I’m often asked and will address through this blog. To answer the questions, it will help to understand what each is, how they are set up and when each can be used.

One blog which has proved highly popular is LPAs and Activation Keys . In the blog I describe how you access an LPA digitally which enables you to share information safely and securely with share organisations. This is a follow up blog written to reflect updated guidance and use recent experience I have had to show the process in an easy to read step by step guide.