Lasting Power of Attorney & ADRT

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Rag_793

I honestly feel like each day I get nowhere with life due to the health conditions I have.

I have not seen any family since 2015, nor do I have any friends. Since my ex-wife walked out on me in 2023, I have had nobody to advocate for me.

I battle my own corner each minute of the day, which is truly tiring. I question every single decision I make, and I fight myself each and every single minute a day.

Obviously if I were to lose mental capacity (although it feels like I have) I would be in a very large pickle. I would be vulnerable to a group of adults having to make decisions on my behalf that do not know me or have my best wishes at hand.

I am frightened of the day this happens, I have made the first step to control things by having a DANR & DNACPR put in place alongside already paying for a non attendance cremation service.

I don’t know where to turn at the moment, My mental health has started to slip again down the autumn & winter mountain side again.

I know that you can draw up an LPA yourself on the government site, but you have to know who to have as your attorney to act on your behalf.

I would have to go down the route of finding a suitable solicitor to aid me in drawing up a suitable lasting power of attorney for health, finances, property and welfare. Alongside the I would need them to draw up ADRT for me for treatments I don’t want carrying out. I would then also require them to act as my Attorney so my voice is heard alongside having my best wishes in hand.

I do not know where to start, where to look and what sort of finances it would cost.

Kimi87

If you do a search for local solicitor firms who deal with LPA, you can approach them regarding costs and to get a feel for whether they would be a good fit for you in terms of acting as your attorney. I'd recommend contacting more than one.

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/?Pro=True

I'm in a similarly vulnerable position since my Mum died in February (we had mirror LPA's) and my previous mutually agreed LPA back up plan said no to acting as next of kin just before she died due to a change in their circumstances - I've tried really hard not to judge but they will never be in my position due to having an abundance of loved ones to choose from. So I knew then it was no good raising LPA with them. And quite frankly, I cried for hours after that refusal and am not mentally resilient enough to go through that again.

As there really isn't anyone else I can ask (for a variety of reasons) I might investigate the solicitor route myself but am unconvinced I have sufficient financial means for an acting professional attorney (I'm fine handling the application process).

I've resigned myself for now that social services would have to take over or employ a professional attorney on my behalf.

Obviously this is not a great position to be in, and definitely not where I pictured my life approaching 40,but I remind myself most people who do choose these kind of jobs do so because they care.