• March 29, 2024
 New LPA forms – a welcome change?

New LPA forms – a welcome change?

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) forms are set to change from July 1st 2015 onwards in an attempt by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to make the process more accessible, and the forms easier to use and less cluttered.

The proposed amendments to the form used to create lasting powers of attorney in England and Wales were initiated following responses from the Office of the Public Guardian’s 2013 consultation. The proposed amendments were then laid in front of Parliament in March of this year to confirm approval.

In what may be viewed as a welcome change by many in the industry, the forms are designed to be more accessible, considerably shorter and will use plain English. Although some may be left disappointed that the OPG have not made the decision to merge the Property & Financial Affairs form with the Health & Welfare form.

The new forms, which consist of 20 pages, can be used on or after 1st July, although previous forms can be used up until 1st January 2016, so long as they are executed before that date.

Powers of attorney already registered with the OPG won’t be affected by these changes and subsequently will remain valid after January 2016.

The specific upcoming changes to LPA forms are as follows:

  • Incorporating registration pages within the form to reduce to a single document
  • Reduction to one certificate provider
  • Removal of requirement to notify someone when the LPA is registered, it is now an optional section
  • Details required from the certificate provider are reduced to just their name and address, details of their qualification to act are removed.

There is one potential concern that these changes do bring to light. LPAs were brought in to replace EPAs, in part due to concerns regarding the abuse of donors under powers of attorney. The new forms appear to be taking steps to remove how substantial some of these safeguards are, such as the requirement to notify someone on registration. Could you see this as potentially reopening a once closed door to financial abuse?

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