THE NEW POWERS OF ATTORNEY ACT 2023 – WHAT’S CHANGING AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Released On 19th May 2024
The New Powers of Attorney Act 2023 (‘the NPA Act’) will be bringing big changes to Lasting Powers of Attorney (‘LPAs’). The NPA Act is thought to be coming into force in the Autumn of this year. The exact date and the finer details are currently unknown, however here’s a summary of what we know and what this means for you.
Why are these changes coming?
The NPA Act is thought to bring better safeguards to prevent fraud and abuse of the system. The legislation will also reduce the risk of mistakes which is hoped will then reduce the registration times (which are currently standing at around 20 weeks!*).
What are the key changes?
There are a number of changes that will be happening when the NPA Act comes into force. It is unknown whether there will be any transitional period for the changes and if there is how long this will be for.
Most of the changes are going to affect the process of making an LPA, including the digitalisation of the forms, the requirement for ID and the notifications.
A change which I will explore further in this blog is that only the Donor (the person to which the LPA relates) will be able to register the LPA. The Attorneys (the people who you have appointed to act on your behalf and deal with your affairs) will no longer be able to register the LPAs on your behalf if you, as the Donor, are unable to do so yourself due to a lack of mental capacity.
An LPA is only valid once it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (‘the OPG’). If you have an unregistered LPA, the document is not valid and cannot be used by your Attorneys until such time as it is registered.
This means that should you have an unregistered LPA and then lose capacity to be able to register it, your Attorneys have no power to assist you with your affairs and they will have to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, which can be time consuming and very costly.
We would therefore recommend that if you do have an LPA which you do not believe is registered with the OPG, register it now! One of our friendly team will be happy to help you find out if your LPA is registered and if it’s not guide you through the process.
Don’t delay, contact the team today, we’re on your side.
*Correct at the time of writing
