Martin Lewis has urged people to take action to sort out their affairs – and explained one key document which costs £82 is much more important than a will. The personal finance expert spoke out on X after a particularly tragic case was highlighted on This Morning.
Mr Lewis has urged families to get the document sorted out in 2025 – and has said he did it for himself at the age of 35 and it is even more important than a will. The Money Saving Expert founder explained families could be plunged into a nightmare if a person suffers a serious injury or health condition without it being sorted first.
Speaking on X he said: “A reminder Power of Attorney is arguably more important than a will, and more urgent. Just had a call on @thismorning from an older lady asking about moving bills into her name from her husbands, who she’s caring for as he has early stage dementia.
“Yet she hadn’t yet done Power of Attorney. This is by far the more urgent consideration. Get it done while someone has the capacity to sign it. Then if and when they lose their faculties, the transition so you can look after their finances (and health and welfare) for them is relatively easy.
“If not, leave it too late, and the money may be locked away unless you got to the Court of Protection which is often and expensive and time consuming nightmare. Better still get a PoA when young. I did mine before I was 40. It is in place, so that if I lose my faculties in the future at that point (not before) someone can take over.”
The Money Saving Expert founder previously explained families could be plunged into a nightmare if a person suffers a serious injury or health condition without it being sorted first. He said: “I got my power of attorney at 35. I don’t care how old you are, it’s not just about dementia, it’s strokes and it’s accidents, severe strokes, I should say, and it’s accidents and other things that stop us being able to look after both our financial and our health decisions.
“The power of attorney is arguably more important than a will. We’ve talked on the show before about power of attorney. If you have the power of attorney in place, that is what allows someone to take control of your finances when they lose their faculties, if and when they lose their faculties. If someone starts to lose their faculties and they don’t have one in place, then you’re going to have to apply at the court of protection, which is long, arduous and costly.“
The gov.uk website explains a lasting power of attorney (LPA) “is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.
“This gives you more control over what happens to you if you have an accident or an illness and cannot make your own decisions (you ‘lack mental capacity’).” It costs £82 to register an LPA