Bank accounts locked and cash withdrawn after elderly gave power to law firm partner - BBC News As someone who works with elderly and vulnerable clients, and prepares Lasting Powers of Attorney, including those appointing professionals, this story is truly concerning. I want to start by saying that I am a read more...

In a previous blog  I explained what a ‘Certificate Provider’ is for the purpose of completing a Lasting Power of Attorney.  I also noted that Certificate Providers can face personal liability if they do not discharge their duties correctly when signing the Power of Attorney document. In this blog, I read more...

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)? An LPA is a Deed by which you (the ‘donor’) can appoint someone you trust (the ‘attorney/s’) to deal with your finances on your behalf either as soon as it has been registered (finances only), or in respect of finances and your read more...

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 read more...

Attorneys act on someone else's behalf, either on their instructions or in their best interests where that person has lost capacity. It is important to note that there are different types of power of attorney. The type that most people are familiar with is Lasting Powers of Attorney (or Enduring read more...

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) were introduced in England and Wales under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which came into effect on 1 st October 2007. LPAs replaced the earlier Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) so is it necessary to set up LPAs if you already have an EPA in read more...

We have previously blogged about the significant benefits of putting in place Lasting Powers of Attorney. If you use a professional to prepare that document, invariably they will act as your Certificate Provider (unless they are also a proposed attorney).  However, if you prepare the document yourself, you will need read more...

New government statistics confirm what the profession has already known for some time – the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is experiencing significant delays in registering Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs). Tom Pursglove MP, Justice Minister, confirmed recently that the current average time to register an LPA is around read more...

Attorneys under Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) have the ability to make a range of decisions on behalf of the donor (person who made the LPA). This authority continues even if the donor loses mental capacity and it allows the attorney to continue to managed their affairs on their behalf. read more...

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has released new guidance to the NHS regarding requests by deputies or attorneys to see the donor's medical records. The OPG have stated that access should be granted to this information if the person making the request 'needs the information to act properly' read more...

Lasting Powers of Attorney offer an enormous advantage to those who ultimately need them and too many of us will need them for too many different reasons. They are an invaluable and flexible tool that can be tailored to suit most people’s circumstances. For context, there are currently three different read more...

There has been an active step by the Office of the Public Guardian towards digitising the process of creating Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs). This has been met with mixed reviews, with solicitors in particular showing general concern about the changes being made. As of the 17 th July 2020, read more...