Lasting Powers of Attorney meet the 21st Century
14 October 2021
With Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney (“LPAs”) being some of the only legal documents that still rely on paper and the postal service, it is a welcome update to see that the Office of the Public Guardian (“OPG”) has launched its new “Use a Lasting Power of Attorney” service.
This new service allows third parties to access a summary of a donor’s LPA online instead of requiring they be provided with a certified copy of the registered paper document. It can be onerous on attorneys/ donors to have a legal document appropriately certified, especially in the current climate. Therefore there are real and practical benefits to the OPG’s new service.
The new service will allow attorneys/ donors to create an online account once the LPA is registered; they can then add their LPA(s) using a reference number and activation key, which they can then choose to share with third parties.
The attorneys/ donors will have the ability to see who has the access code, which may reassure those who are dubious about the new service. However, according to the OPG, those that have trialled the service have provided largely positive feedback but the service is still in its early stages. Also, the service is currently only available for LPAs registered on, or after, 17th July 2020 so it is quite limited at the moment. We will watch this space to see whether the OPG open this up to earlier registered LPAs but it is a step in the right direction!
Further information on this service can be found at https://www.gov.uk/use-lasting-power-of-attorney.
If you would like more information on ZEDRA’s Lasting Power of Attorney service visit here or call us on 01565 748 808
