Lasting Powers of Attorney – a must-have for a business owner
10th December 2020 | Alisha Francis
We at Landons cannot not speak highly of Lasting Powers of Attorney. Lasting Powers of Attorney are instrumental when it comes to decision making for you during your lifetime. Lasting Powers of Attorney allow you to nominate one or more trusted people (attorney/s) to make important decisions on your behalf should you become mentally or physically incapable of doing so during your lifetime. There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney, one for Property and Financial Affairs, and one for Health and Welfare.
Unfortunately, however there is a common misconception about Lasting Powers of Attorney and how far they can go to assist all of us in our day to day …
LPAs for business
A business Lasting Power of Attorney is a specific type of Property and Finance Lasting Power of Attorney. A Lasting Power of Attorney can be particularly important for a business owner, because of the responsibilities they have in running their business. A business Lasting Power of Attorney can allow an attorney to manage the business on your behalf for example it gives your attorney the ability to make financial decisions to continue with the running of the business, such as paying salaries and invoices, and signing cheques should it be necessary, for example:
- If you have been in an accident
- If you are medically incapacitated
- If you are abroad for business or on holiday
Having a business Lasting Power of Attorney in place will not affect the business owner’s right to continue managing the business whilst they are willing and able to do so.
What if I do not have a business LPA in place?
If you do not have a business Lasting Power of Attorney in place and have become unable to make decisions on behalf of the business, it is likely that an application will have to be made to the Court of Protection for somebody (who may be unrelated to you) to make these decisions for you. Applications to the Court of Protection are expensive and can take many months to be dealt with. There is no guarantee that they will choose the person you would have wished to take care of the business. All of these factors can put your business at risk.
Should your business structure require it, a business Lasting Power of Attorney can provide the protection and continuity to keep your business running if you are unable to act for a period of time, or indefinitely.
Our doors are open here at Landons to assist you in putting a Lasting Power of Attorney into place for you and your business partners. Please never hesitate to contact our Jessie Stewart for more information, with any questions or to discuss this further on 01277 210021 or [email protected]
