You will have seen lots of articles recommending that you plan for death by writing a will, but what happens if you become unable to make decisions for yourself whilst you are alive; either through illness or accident? Who will make decisions on your behalf and how will your finances be run?

We all increasingly live our lives online whether it be through various social media profiles to paperless billing for your gas and electricity account. When you’re in control, there’s no denying it makes life simple and even if you lose or forget your password, a link will be sent to your email account and within seconds you’re back in control.

Multi-disciplined law firm Banner Jones has expanded its award-winning Private Client division with the appointment of Charlotte Hudson, a Private Client Solicitor specialising in Wills and Probate Law.

Setting up a trusted family member or friend with a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) ensures that someone else is able to make important decisions for you when you’re no longer in a position to be able to make them for yourself. But this in itself is always going to be a key decision in your life, so it’s important to consider the benefits and risks before going ahead with giving another person the authority LPA unlocks.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has introduced new and improved forms to be used by deputies.

We all know that we should write a Will, but too few of us know about and recognise the need for something called a Lasting Power of Attorney or LPA.

With Internet usage in the UK at its highest ever levels and growing, perhaps it's time for people to give some consideration to the protection of their digital assets? Over 80% of UK adults access the internet every day, using sites such as Facebook and Twitter for social purposes but also transactional sites such as eBay for the sale of goods for money.

guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 July 2011

Legal ombudsman calls on government to take action over unregulated companies offering consumer financial services.

Which? says there is a lack of clarity over financial services including will writing.

Thousands of people are being ripped off by unregulated claims management and will writing companies, the legal ombudsman has said in his first annual report.

If you have a business, a partnership or are a company director then you should consider appointing a Power Of Attorney. This allows you to delegate decision-making to your attorney if for any reason you can’t be there to make the decisions yourself. You can limit their power to a specific time frame and also limit the decisions they are able to make for you. For example, if a lease for new premises needs to be signed on the 29th of the month, when you will be in the south of France, you can nominate someone to have power to sign that specific lease on that specific day.