Should you ‘DIY your LPA ’ or use a Professional?

As with many legal services, when it comes to Lasting Powers of Attorney you have the choice to ‘Do It Yourself’ or to use an experienced professional.

In this article we will explore the pro’s and con’s for both options.

Do It Yourself

Pro’s

You Save the Fee of Paying a Professional – Doing the Lasting Power of Attorney documents directly with the government means you would not incur the costs of using professional services like Zenco Legal for our drafting service and advice.

Con’s

Time Consuming – ‘Doing It Yourself’ is far more time consuming. You can navigate your way through the online forms but as this will be the first time you may have heard the terminology, it can take a lot longer and also be quite stressful if there are elements you don’t understand.
Multiple Registration Attempts – If errors are made on your application then you will receive your forms back from the Office of Public Guardian. This can dramatically increase the registration time. If an application is made without any errors the average registration time with The Office of Public Guardian is 20 weeks. If mistakes are made, this timeframe can be dramatically increased or you may even need to start from scratch.
A False Economy – It is true that completing the forms yourself will save on the fee that a professional would charge. However, if there are mistakes on your document, the Office of the Public Guardian can charge you up to 50% of the registration fee for the Lasting Power of Attorney applications to be re-submitted – There is no limit to how many times this can happen.

Use a Professional

Pro’s

Less Stress – It’s a well known fact that doing something for the first time takes more brain power. Our service takes that brain power and does the work for you. We keep our service simple and accessible by walking you through what is needed to completed the documents in layman terms through our step-by-step online service or telephone guidance with our legal advisors.
Peace of Mind – Our specialists check your paperwork to ensure that everything is 100% accurate before we send the application to you. Once you receive the documents for signing, it is as simple as following the guide and signing where indicated by our yellow tabbed pages. We also offer a check and send service for an extra £49 per document so you can return the signed documents to Zenco in order for us to ensure first time registration with the Office of the Public Guardian.
Time Saving – Because we ensure your application is 100% accurate before we send it to The Office of Public Guardian with our check and send service, we guarantee registration first time. This can be extremely important if health issues are the driving force behind your application. If you choose to not proceed with our check and send service, we are happy that the guidance provided with our professionally drafted documents will also guarantee first time registration
Highlighting any Discounts – Zen Legal will identify if you qualify for a 50% registration fee remission or even completely free fee registration.
A Helping Hand – If at any point you have any questions you can call our specialists for advice.

Con’s

A Fee to Pay – Yes, there is an additional administration fee to pay for our specialist support, however we are certain you will find our costs affordable from £99 per application.

If you would like to book an appointment with our specialists visit our website at www.zenco.com or call us on 0800 031 8048.