The future of Lasting Powers of Attorney

Under current law, all Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) must be signed by the donor, certificate provider and attorneys in paper copy only, and the original paper copy LPA must be submitted to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) for registration.

However, there are proposals before parliament to allow for LPAs to be signed and submitted to the OPG either digitally or on paper, or by a mixture of the two. The proposals will provide for regulations setting out the required identity checks before the OPG will register the LPA.

In addition, there are proposals to allow chartered legal executives to certify powers of attorney. Currently, powers of attorney can only be certified by the donor, a solicitor, a notary or a stockbroker.

What are powers of attorney?

A power of attorney is a legal document where a person gives another person or persons (the attorney) authority to make certain decisions on his or her behalf.

If you have not completed a power of attorney and you become incapable of making a decision, then it may be necessary for an application to be made to the Court of Protection for an appropriate order, such as appointing another person to make decisions on your behalf.

If you would like any further information about getting a power of attorney in place, or applying to the Court of Protection please do get in touch with a Solicitor from our Older and Vulnerable Person’s Team.