Why Has My Lasting Power of Attorney Application Been Rejected?

/ powers of attorney

New data issued by the Freedom of Information (FOI) has revealed that almost 130,000 lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) applications have been rejected in the last 5 years due to mistakes, with over 29,000 of these coming in the last year alone.

We have previously covered LPAs in this blog but the FOI’s startling figures have prompted us to look at some of the common reasons why LPA applications are being rejected:

  1. Failure to provide full names: Parties often submit LPAs without giving all their personal information. Witnesses often cause an LPA to be rejected by not noting their full details on the LPAs. It is crucial to remind witnesses that they must give their full name (including their middle names), and not just their initials with their surname. This is significant as banks may refuse to grant the attorney access to funds if there are mistakes or discrepancies in the documentation.

  2. Incorrect witnesses: Parties often use inappropriate witnesses to their signatures for example, an attorney cannot witness the signature of a donor because there is a conflict of interest in doing so.

  3. Missing information: This is often the date that the donor, attorneys, or certificate provider have signed the LPAs, or sometimes their signatures have not been witnessed. It is crucial to check that LPAs have been completed in their entirety before they are submitted to the Office of Public Guardian for registration.

  4. Not signing in the correct order: The donor, certificate provider or attorneys have not signed and dated the LPAs in the correct order. The donor must sign the LPAs first, then the certificate provider, then the attorneys, and thereafter, the person registering the LPA must sign again (either the attorneys or the donor).

  5. Contradictory LPA instructions: The donor might appoint their attorneys to make decisions one way, and then include instructions to make them act differently; thus, making the LPAs inoperable. By way of example, if you appoint three attorneys to act “jointly and severally”, you cannot then include an instruction in the LPA to say that decisions must be made by a majority vote, as by acting jointly and severally, all the attorneys have equal power to act and make decisions.

If you would like more information about LPAs, (or assistance with their preparation), please contact any member of our Wealth Management and Taxation team by email on 01494 521301.