helping seniors live well in later life

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Tag: Lasting Power of Attorney

  • Power of Attorney

    Power of Attorney

    Have you written and registered your power of attorney yet?  We have done ours and many people might think we’re too young.

    But you’re never too young; it doesn’t matter what age you are, if something happens to you and you can’t make decisions, then life can get a bit tricky.  People often think that they are giving up their independence by appointing attorneys, but it doesn’t need to be like that.  It’s just there so when things start to get difficult, you can get some help from the people you trust most. 

    Your appointed finance attorneys can make decisions with you before you lose capacity, just to assist and make your life easier.

    The health and welfare attorneys can only make decisions for you if you have lost capacity.

    It is much easier to fill in your forms before you need them, and if you need to discuss this with a solicitor then we can recommend firms that can help you. 

    Next time we’ll talk about who to appoint as your attorneys.

  • Passports and identity

    Passports and identity

    Passports are not just for trips abroad.

    They are a very useful piece of ID and, if possible, make sure you keep yours renewed even if you don’t think you’ll be travelling soon.

    We have seen many cases recently of our clients needing to prove their identity to banks and this is often the only ID that can be accepted especially if you have stopped driving.  Without it we’ve seen clients locked out of their own banking, even in branch, as they cannot prove who they are when something has gone wrong or when a fraud flag has been placed on their account. 

    If you are moving home soon you’ll need to prove your identity to your solicitor and this will be the easiest way.  There are many organisations that are inflexible when it comes to ID requirements and keeping your passport renewed can take the stress out of things as you don’t always know you need it until you do.  

    And don’t forget, you can use it as ID for voting since there are now requirements for ID at polling stations.  There is now of course a special voter ID you can get if you don’t have a passport, and other items you can use like your freedom pass or blue badge.  You can of course always apply for a postal vote if going to the polling station is too stressful.

    If you or a loved one need help doing the online passport renewal (or new passport) application, we would love to help.