Five mistakes that could see you waiting over TEN years for lasting power of attorney – how to avoid it
SHOCKING figures reveal that thousands of Brits could face a wait of up to 2,777 working days to process a lasting power of attorney application.
A power of attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.
There are two types, one covering property and financial affairs and one covering health and welfare.
Both must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before they can be used.
There are two types, one covering property and financial affairs and one covering health and welfare.
Both must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before they can be used.
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In the 2023/24 financial year it took an average of 76 working days or 15 weeks to process new claims.
That's still double the target of 40 days or eight weeks set by the OPG.
However, data from a recent Freedom of Information request by wealth management firm Quilter shows that some applicants could be waiting significantly longer.
One lasting power of attorney application took a whopping 2,777 working days or over ten years to process.
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In addition, in the 2024/25 tax year an application was processed after over six years.
Despite these lengthy delays, the shortest processing times have remained consistent at around 21 working days between 2019 and 2024.
However, as reported by the OPG, the majority of applications take around 76 working days to process.
Shaun Moore, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter said: "It is shocking that an application for such a vital element of financial planning would take so long to process.
"While we do not know the circumstances that led to such a long wait time, the data shows that it is not uncommon for applicants to have to wait years for the approval of their lasting power of attorney registration.
"Part of the reason for this may be that errors are made on the applications, and because the most common method of application was via post, the rectification of errors took longer, either on the Office for Public Guardian's side or the applicant's side."
To help ensure that you're not waiting months for your lasting power of attorney application to be processed, we've listed the five mistakes you need to avoid when applying.
1. Incorrect signing order
If the people involved in the lasting power of attorney have not signed and dated the forms in the right order you could face lengthy delays.
The person giving the power (the donor) must sign first, followed by the certificate provider, then the attorneys.
After that, the person registering the LPA (either the attorney or the donor) must sign again.
Often, people sign the forms in the wrong order, which is not allowed.
2. Missing information
This is often related to the date that the donor, attorneys or certificate provider have signed the LPAs.
It could also be the case if their signatures have not been witnessed.
The LPAs must be completed in their entirety before they can be submitted to the OPG to be registered.
3. Incorrect witnesses
Sometimes people choose witnesses who are not permitted to witness signatures.
For example, an attorney (the person given the power to make decisions) cannot act as a witness to the donor's (the person giving the power) signature because it creates a conflict of interest.
As a general rule, anyone who is at least 18 years old and is not named as an attorney or replacement attorney in the document can witness a lasting power of attorney signature.
4. Unworkable requests
If the donor tells their attorneys to make decisions in one way, but then include instructions that contradict this, it would make the lasting power of attorney impossible to follow.
For example, if you have three attorneys and you say they should act "jointly and severally" (meaning any one of them can make decisions on their own), you cannot also say that decisions should be made by majority vote.
This is because acting "jointly and severally" means each attorney has equal power to make decisions, so they can't be required to follow a majority vote.
5. Not providing full names
People often submit lasting power of attorney forms without providing all the necessary information.
For example, witnesses might cause an LPA to be rejected because they don't include their full details on the form.
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Witnesses need to write their full name, including all middle names, not just their initials and last name.
This is crucial because banks and other financial institutions might refuse to give the attorney access to funds if there are any spelling mistakes or differences in the names on the documents.
CHECK FOR POWER OF ATTORNEY REFUNDS
HUNDREDS of thousands of families are still owed millions in refunds after being overcharged when registering for power of attorney.
A redress scheme was set up by the government in 2018 after it realised that people had been charged more than the administration costs for setting up a power of attorney.
In total, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) was found to have overcharged 1.7million applicants by £69million between 2013 to 2017.
The refunds apply to powers of attorney registered between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017 in England and Wales.
Millions were owed cash back because the OPG's running costs fell but fees were not reduced to reflect this.
In April 2017, The fee to register was lowered from £110 to £82.
Since then a refund scheme has allowed people to claim back as much as £54 per attorney plus 0.5% interest on top.
But if you took out both a financial affairs and a health attorney, then you could be due up to £108.
It's worth noting that even when the person who the attorney was for has died, you can still claim.
In this scenario, the executor of the will or administrator of the estate needs to claim the refund.
The process has become more complex since the government shut down online refund applications back in January 2021.
However, households can still apply for a refund on fees by sending a letter to the OPG.
To do this, you won't need the power of attorney document itself, but you will need:
- The donor's name, address and date of birth.
- Their UK bank account number and sort code.
- The name of one of the attorneys on the power of attorney
Then post your request to:
POA Refunds Team
7th Floor
Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH