Here at FDR Law we have our very own Solicitor, Michelle Davis who is also a Warrington Wolves Women’s team player! Michelle is also a part of the England Women’s National Performance Squad and hopes that one day she will represent her country.
Michelle has recently signed for Warrington Wolves from Wigan Warriors and had the best start she could have hoped for scoring four tries and four conversions in her first game for the Wolves. Away from the rugby pitch, Michelle specialises in preparing Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney and probate work. Michelle says that her experience has brought home the importance of Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Lasting Powers of Attorney (known as LPAs) let you appoint people you trust as attorneys to manage your affairs if you are unable to do so. There are two types of LPA, one deals with financial affairs and the other with health and care.
The financial affairs LPA lets your attorneys make decisions on your behalf about money matters and/or your property. For example, they can make decisions on buying and selling your property, running your bank accounts, dealing with your bills and state benefits and investing your money.
The Health and Welfare LPA lets your attorneys to make decisions about your care, where you live, what you eat, what you wear and medical decisions.
Both types of LPA are important. A key difference between the two is that the LPA for property and Finance can be used as soon as it is registered but the LPA for Health and Welfare can only be used when you can’t make decisions for yourself.
So how does this relate to sport?
Anybody who participates in any sport, not just extreme sports, risks suffering from a severe injury, hence why most competitive athletes have accident/injury insurance to cover for those eventualities. Michelle says that “Every athlete evaluates the risk of injury before they step onto their chosen field of play, so to speak, and therefore every athlete should consider putting LPAs in place as an additional insurance policy in case the worst outcome does happen.”
Lasting Powers of Attorney ensure that your loved ones are able to deal with your affairs without any additional stress. Please note that even joint accounts can be frozen if the bank becomes aware that one party has lost mental capacity.
On a happier note, an LPA can be useful for managing your affairs if you are lucky enough to tour abroad with a sports team.
As a keen rugby league player Michelle is passionate about educating all athletes from every different sport about the Lasting Powers of Attorney and other ways to plan and protect their assets for the future.
What should I do next?
We often refer to LPAs as an ‘insurance policy’, we hope that you never need them but if you do they are there to be used. LPAs are often thought to be only for the elderly or people who have been recently diagnosed with dementia, this is not the case as LPAs can be useful for all.
If this sounds relevant to you or has made you consider your own or someone else’s circumstances speak to Michelle or one of our Private Client Team for more advice.
Here at FDR Law we are happy to meet with clients to discuss their personal circumstances and run through Lasting Powers of Attorney and other options in more detail.
