Don’t Wait To Apply For Your Lasting Powers of Attorney!

The delay in processing Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) has hit a record of 104 days in England and Wales. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is warning applicants that they should allow up to 20 weeks before their LPAs are registered due to the backlog since the pandemic.  

What are Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)?

LPAs are legal documents which authorise a person(s) that are chosen as attorneys to act on your behalf.

You can find out more information on the different types of power of attorney in one of our previous blogs.

What can you do whilst you are waiting for your LPA(s)?

Given the delays in registering LPAs, the OPG has advised the following short-term options for health, welfare, and financial decisions:

• Writing down your future wishes in relation to your health and welfare or property and financial affairs, although this is not legally binding.
• For your property and financial affairs, add a third-party mandate through your bank or building society to allow someone else to make bank transactions for you or make a general power of attorney to permit someone to manage your financial affairs.
• For your health and welfare, make an advance decision to refuse types of treatment in the future or write an advance statement to specify your preferences, wishes and beliefs for your future care. Please note that an advance decision can potentially be legally binding, but an advance statement is not legally binding.