Lasting Power of Attorney revamp to improve safety and efficiency
The government has unveiled it's plans to modernise and strengthen the Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”) process, by which a person can appoint attorneys to manage their affairs in the event that they lose capacity, following last year’s consultation on modernising the system.
Power of attorney agreements allow families to make crucial financial or medical decisions on behalf of vulnerable or elderly relatives who are no longer able to do so themselves. They have become increasingly common as the population ages and mentally degenerative diseases such as dementia become more prevalent.
In a digital overhaul of the 30-year-old paper system, the Ministry of Justice said applying for the legal documents will become quicker and easier.
A summary of the major reforms will be:
- New safeguards to protect against fraud and abuse
- Process to be made simpler, quicker and easy to use
- New digital service to reduce application errors and speed up registrations
Increased safeguards
Plans to strengthen safeguards to protect vulnerable individuals from abuse or fraud include new identification checks requiring official documents or information, for example a passport, driving licence or Government Gateway account. The Office of the Public Guardian (“OPG”) does not have face-to-face contact with the parties to an LPA and the plan is therefore to take advantage of technology to digitally verify identities.
Appropriate alternative safeguards will remain in place for those who cannot or choose not to use digital routes (please see further exploration of this below).
New online service
The new system will make it possible to create an LPA completely online for the first time, bringing the system up to date which, given that the current process of making an LPA still is now over 30 years old and has many paper-based requirements, is much needed.
The paper system for LPAs will remain in place following the Law Society’s submission to the consultation which said that many vulnerable people, for example those with a brain injury, degenerative cognitive condition or learning difficulties may need to still rely on the paper process. The submission also flagged that five million people over the age of 55 do not have access to the internet, and it is important that the paper channel has been retained to avoid negatively impacting vulnerable, disabled or older people.
Digitisation of the system will not only help reduce errors in LPA documentation by ensuring these are picked up and resolved early in the process, but will also drastically improve the OPG’s carbon efficiency and sustainability (The OPG still handles more than 19 million pieces of paper per year).
The proposals are a reflection of the need to carefully balance modernisation in an ever developing digital world, with safeguarding the rights of vulnerable people and protecting those who have lost capacity to manage their affairs and have been developed with the help of various stakeholders including representatives from the Alzheimer’s Society, Age UK, the Law Society, STEP and Mencap.
May 26, 2022
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