How having a Power of Attorney solved a multitude of problems

Jim was in his mid-thirties when he made his Power of Attorney. He thought he was too young. Jim believed granting a Power of Attorney was something only older people did in case they had to go into care or needed someone to look after their financial affairs. His wife, Yvonne, always the cautious one, had gone on and on about how he needed a Power of Attorney.  If Jim was prevented him from looking after his own affairs Yvonne wanted to make sure she or someone else could look after them for him until he was able to deal with them again himself.

Jim has his own business and had to travel a lot to meet customers. One night in January he was coming home from a customer visit when another driver skidded in black ice and collided head on with Jim’s car. Both Jim and the other driver were badly injured. Jim had head as well as other injuries and the doctors decided to put him in an induced coma to preserve his life and aid his recovery. He was in a coma for around 12 weeks and many months in rehabilitation.

Yvonne was very worried, as you would expect. She was worried about her husband’s health and she was also very concerned about his business. Jim was a sole trader and he was the only one who could sign any cheques, place orders, pay the wages and make decisions about the business. Thankfully, Jim had taken his wife’s advice and had created a Power of Attorney a few years before the accident. This meant Yvonne could run the business when Jim was in hospital and whilst he was recovering. Whilst she couldn’t deal with the hands-on technical stuff, she could deal with all the administrative tasks and decision-making.  Jim’s staff took care of the rest.

Thankfully, Jim made a complete recovery and is now back running his business. He had to admit that his wife’s nagging about the Power of Attorney had paid off. Without it there wouldn’t have been anyone to easily deal with all of the administration involved in his business.

As Yvonne said, “It was the little things that mattered. Even though Jim has his business, there were personal decisions I had to make for him that had nothing to do with business. If it hadn’t been for the Power of Attorney, it would have been very difficult to get by”.

A Power of Attorney isn’t just for older people – it’s for anyone! You never know when you might suffer from an illness or have an accident that prevents you from looking after your own affairs.

If you would like to discuss making a Power of Attorney, please call us on 0141 887 5271.