Why You Should Update Your LPA Regularly

Life is often unpredictable and relationships and circumstances can change on a dime. Planning your estate to account for those changes might seem like an impossible task. However, with a lasting power of attorney (LPA) it is possible to do that and more. Learning how to set up a lasting power of attorney can help you better prepare for your health and financial future.

LPAs allow donors to fully exercise their autonomy and actively participate in the most crucial decisions affecting their well-being. Additionally, their flexibility allows donors to account for unforeseen health issues and changes in attorney-donor relationships, all of which make compelling reasons for a review and update of an LPA. Periodic reviews of your LPA arrangements and updating them accordingly can help you ensure that your LPAs, whether for health or finance, are in your best interests.

In this article, we explore why reviewing and updating your LPAs regularly is important and how they can benefit your future well-being.

1. Attorney-Donor Relationships

One of the most decisive reasons individuals choose to change their LPA arrangements is changes in attorney-donor relationships. After all, if you no longer trust your attorney to act in your best interest, why would you wish them to continue? Attorneys can also be disqualified from attorney duties on various grounds.

For example, if your attorney has recently become bankrupt and is named on your finance LPA, it is grounds for a potential conflict of interest. Moreover, separation or divorce can also warrant an update in your LPA arrangements if your attorney is a spouse or partner.

2. Health and Financial Changes

LPAs are made to ensure your future well-being so any changes that hamper those arrangements can be reviewed. For example, a donor with a genetic disposition to Alzheimer’s may set a health LPA to make provisions for future care which are specific to the condition. However, if the donor is diagnosed with a different health condition, the health LPA may need to be reviewed and updated to accommodate the new medical diagnosis.

Similarly, an LPA would require an update if your estate or financial situation changes. Purchase of new assets, debt consolidation, property sales or medical expenses necessitates the reviewing and updating of your LPA arrangements.

3. Legal Compliance

In September 2023, the government introduced its plans to simplify the LPA process by digitalising the process in a bid to make LPAs accessible to everyone. This ensured legal services became more widely available to individuals and made them inclusive. More legislative changes and provisions are expected as technology continues to make headway in the legal industry.

Reviewing your LPA and updating it to reflect such changes in legislation is a good way to ensure your LPA is legally compliant in an increasingly digital world. As demonstrated above, laws can be subject to changes as part of their adaptation to a changing world. It is recommended to review your LPA at least every five years to ensure your LPA is legally valid and effective.

4. Changes in Attorney Circumstances

Attorney-donor relationships form the crux of any LPA arrangements. However, any changes in your attorney’s circumstances can also be reason enough to review your LPA. While we’ve already discussed grounds for attorney disqualification above, there are other factors regarding an attorney that need consideration.

Attorneys are expected to act in your best interests and have the mental capacity to carry out all such duties and responsibilities entrusted to them. However, suppose an attorney struggles with their mental health, faces a potential loss of mental capacity, has moved abroad or has passed away, you’ll need to consider appointing a new attorney. You can make suitable amendments to your LPA arrangements by revoking them or using a partial deed of revocation to appoint a new attorney.

5. Beliefs and Preferences

Donors make arrangements for future care based on the knowledge and beliefs they embraced when they made an LPA. However, as time progresses, they are bound to change and become aware of better options or have new belief systems. The donor can modify their LPA arrangements to reflect these new changes.

For example, at the time of writing their LPA, a donor made arrangements for end-of-life care with instructions to deny the use of pain medication which they believed in good faith was aligned with their religious beliefs. However, after discovering new treatment methods using advanced medical innovations, the donor has had a change of heart. This is just one example, but it shows how reviewing your LPA arrangements can help provide for these changes.

Conclusion

While reviewing and making amendments to an LPA might seem like a hassle, it’s an important practice to ensure that your financial and health arrangements remain up to date. Furthermore, it allows you to add and remove instructions as a way to ensure they align with your current health and financial goals and well-being. We hope this article has helped you better understand the importance of reviewing and updating your LPA.