Lasting Power of Attorney

How Lasting Power of Attorney helps you care for an elderly relative

As we all live longer and society ages,

it’s not just children of the family who need care.

Many more people now have elderly relatives becoming incapable of looking after themselves.

Today’s sponsored post from the Director of Balcombe Care Homes highlights the benefits of Lasting Power of Attorney for home workers with care responsibilities:

Just as having a family has often been the catalyst for starting to work from home, many more people are likely to turn to home working as a way of combining work with care for the elderly. Putting Lasting Power of Attorney in place can also make life much easier for the carer.

Many elderly people organise Lasting Power of Attorney when they are planning ahead — what is sometimes called advance care planning. It means that they can make some important decisions in advance about how they want their finances managed, how they wish to be cared for or treated medically, or where they will live or be cared for.

The person who is appointed to make these decisions will have the power to ensure their advance wishes are carried out. For example, some people may not want to receive certain medical treatment, so they make sure this is clear when they draw up the Lasting Power of Attorney.

A Lasting Power of Attorney can be of great benefit to carers too if they are appointed as the decision maker. It can ease a lot of stress on the carer because they will not be so worried about how decisions are to be made and what the true wishes of their relative are.

From a practical point of view it means that as a carer you can run your relative’s finances in the same way as you run your own. You will get cheque books and payment cards for their accounts, and their bank statements will be sent to you.

You can set up similar arrangements with utility companies so that your relative’s household bills can be paid without them being worried by getting bills through the post. This means you can manage their household affairs even if you live at a distance.

It takes time and effort to set up the arrangements, but once in place you will be able to use facilities such as internet banking to keep an eye on your relative’s finances. A huge help when you’re juggling work with various levels of care for elderly relatives.