'LAW WATCH' VIDEO FOR SEPT/OCT: LATEST LAW

Enough sun. Catch up with legal developments in a relatively painless way with a click for my latest free video. Feast on

• saving on power of attorney registration fee
• earning £24 an hour as a litigant in person
• less info for the public at Companies House
• lower interest on personal injury special losses
• the sanctity of the financial dispute resolution appointment
• getting paid for caring for a relative
  

You can also download the factsheet here.  

Power of Attorney Registration: Money Back!

You could be in the money. Well, a little bit of money.

The fee for registration of a power of attorney was reduced on 1 April 2017 by £28 to £82 

(see http://www.breakinglaw.co.uk/search/label/powers%20of%20attorney). The fee should have been reduced earlier as the cost of dealing with the registration process diminished and this was not reflected in the fee which was being charged before the reduction. The result is that if you paid a fee between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017 which is the period over which an excessive fee was being charged, you will qualify for a refund. 

You can apply online - visit https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney-refund and enjoy yourself. Or,if you fancy a natter before Loose Women comes on, call 0300 456 0300 and select option 6 but I fancy there will be a call charge.

Power of Attorney Registration Fee Reduction

We should all make a lasting power of attorney. It gives authority to those we trust to make decisions about our property and affairs if and when we lose the mental capacity to do so ourselves. We can also make a separate power of attorney dealing with our personal welfare. The lasting power of attorney - which can be made on line - replaced the enduring power of attorney but any enduring powers of attorney made under previous legislation remain valid.

A lasting power of attorney needs to be registered with the Public Guardian Office. An enduring power of attorney should also be registered where it is believed that the maker is or is becoming mentally incapable. The registration fee was reduced on 1 April 2017* - yes, at first I reckoned I had been April Fooled! - from £110 to £82. If you mess up the registration process, you will have to resubmit it at an additional fee and this has also been reduced, from £55 to £41. Where the person who has made the power of attorney is on certain state benefits or a low income, there may be a fee exemption of a 50% reduction.

Go to www.gov.uk/lasting-power-of-attorney for much, much more and ease the worries of your loved ones.

* see The Public Guardian (Fees, etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 SI 2017/503