QUESTION: I am a wealthy businessman, married with young children. My wife has no input in the business. I have substantial personal assets I wish to preserve for my family. I have recently had a health scare and I am concerned who would manage both my private and business affairs. I have adult children from my first marriage who are directors in the business but are abroad frequently.

ANSWER: This gentleman requires a Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA). You appoint an attorney who can manage your financial affairs with legal authority and will continue to do so should you lose mental capacity. A LPA is flexible and can be tailored to particular circumstances. Restrictions can be inserted limiting the attorney’s powers as to what assets they can manage or when their powers can be exercised.

His wife should be appointed as one of the attorneys, but her powers can be restricted to only dealing with personal bank accounts and assets in her husband’s sole name. If he does not wish a family member to deal with these a professional can be appointed.

His adult children could be attorneys in relation to his business affairs. If he appoints two of them ‘together and independently’ either one can make decisions so there will be no difficulty when one is out of the country. LPAs allow for guidance to be included so the attorneys can be asked to refer to particular financial advisers or solicitors when making decisions.

As LPAs must be registered, all of the family members will be notified as part of the registration process. Consequently, if they feel there may be any problems with the arrangements they can be resolved immediately.

If you don’t make a LPA and lose mental capacity the Court of Protection shall take over your affairs, appointing one member of your family to deal with all matters. A Court of Protection application is long winded, extremely expensive and stressful. In this case, there is no one person suitable to deal with all of the issues raised and an LPA can address this.

His will should also be reviewed to ensure any inheritance tax is reduced. A trust will be a suitable vehicle to preserve assets for particular children and may be something he should consider creating during his lifetime. Getting the proper legal and financial advice is key.