Martin Lewis, the personal finance expert, has urged everyone to prioritise one crucial document in 2025. Speaking on This Morning, he emphasised the importance of this document, even more so than a will. He shared his own experience, saying: "I got my power of attorney at 35. I don't care how old you are, it's not just about dementia, it's strokes and it's accidents, severe strokes, I should say, and it's accidents and other things that stop us being able to look after both our financial and our health decisions.".
He further explained the significance of having a power of attorney, stating: "The power of attorney is arguably more important than a will. We've talked on the show before about power of attorney. If you have the power of attorney in place, that is what allows someone to take control of your finances when they lose their faculties, if and when they lose their faculties. If someone starts to lose their faculties and they don't have one in place, then you're going to have to apply at the court of protection, which is long, arduous and costly.".
A viewer named James asked a question about his mother's condition and what he should do at this stage of her illness. Mr Lewis, showing empathy, responded: "I'm sorry James, I can't tell whether your mother is still in the stage where, where she would be able to sign over power of attorney now, where she still has her enough faculties to be able to do so. If she can, you want to do that quickly and it's gonna have to be legitimate that she's in a position to do it, you'll want to get a power of attorney set up really quickly.".
