Changes to Lasting Power of Attorney

The Office of the Public Guardian promised it would simplify the Lasting Power of Attorney form this year. Whilst it was originally hoped that the OPG would merge the Property & Financial Affairs form with the Health & Welfare form to reduce the cost of setting up both, this has not happened but still some progress has been made.

The OPG has advised that the new forms for both property and financial affairs LPAs and health and welfare LPAs will be simpler and clearer.

From the 1st July 2015 the new style forms:

Reduce the number of certificate providers needed to one
Remove the requirement to notify someone of the registration and leaves this as optional – it is part of the LPA
Encourage immediate registration by incorporating the registration pages within the form
The total length of the form is now 20 pages even with the registration section.

You can continue to use the existing forms until 1 January 2016 but from that date the new forms must be used to be valid.

You can access the statutory instrument which includes copies of all the new forms HERE

References:

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/stories/lpa-forms-are-changing-from-1-july-2015/