From 1st April 2017, the fee for applying to the Office of the Public Guardian to register a Lasting Power of Attorney reduced from £110.00 to £82.00 per application. A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document which enables you to appoint people who you trust to act as your Attorney to manage your affairs on your behalf. It is important that you put your Lasting Power of Attorney in place whilst you have the mental capacity to do so as failure to act may result in your loved ones facing lengthy and expensive proceedings in applying to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order to deal with your affairs. There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney; Property and Financial Affairs and Health and Welfare. The former enables your Attorneys to deal with banks and building societies, pay utility bills and sell property on your behalf. You can elect that your chosen Attorneys can deal with your affairs whilst you still have mental capacity or you can state that you only want their power to come into force if you lose capacity. The latter gives your Attorneys the power to make decisions regarding nursing homes and medical care. Here, your Attorneys’ power only comes into force once you have lost capacity to make decisions. With the application fees being reduced at the Office of the Public Guardian, now is the perfect time to consider putting your affairs in order. At Ramsdens, we have an expert Private Client team who can help you with your Lasting Powers of Attorney. Call our Private Client team on 0800 988 3650, email willsandprobate@ramsdens.co.uk or text LAW to 67777 to book a free information session at any of our offices across West Yorkshire.