Lasting Power of Attorney - a couple of questions RE the form please

Tunstallstoven

Hi

I wondered if anyone may be able to help with a couple of questions about LPA forms please?

1. If in Part C - the declaration of the attorney - the attorney has signed but NOT DATED (the date field is blank), could this cause issues if the document was ever needed to be used in the future?  

2. The "people to be told".  I understand that the person chosen here is to be told if the LPA is being registered.  But do they have a role beyond this?  Do they have any part to play when it comes to actually making the decision for the person who holds the LPA?  Or is it just that they are informed on registration and that's it?

Many thanks

MovingForwards

1. Potentially.

2. No, if they are not included in the LPA they have no legal right to make any decisions.

sheramber

the chances are the form would be rejected if it  is not completed fully.

Tunstallstoven

Hmmm, that is a concern then.  

My parents did "mirror" LPAs .  My mum sadly passed away earlier this year, and when I got her Will sent to me - which was in storage at The National Will Archive - they also sent her LPAs.  It was flicking through them that I noticed I had not dated my signatures.  I am one of three attorneys, my dad and sister being the other two.  They both dated theirs'.  I've no idea how I managed that oversight!  I guess just because I did not date my signatures on my mum's LPAs doesn't automatically mean I didn't on my dad's  But as they were done at the same time it's equally likely I haven't.  

I wonder if there's any chance someone at The National Will Archive would be able to check it?  Failing that, I guess another option would be for my dad to take it out of storage there and for me to simply add the date to the forms if it has been omitted.  

Can anyone think of any other solutions?  

Thanks for all the help

MovingForwards

Do a new POA, provided your dad has capacity, is another solution.

Keep_pedalling

Ideally LPAs should be registered at the time they are made and not left until they are needed. There are 2 reasons for this, the first being that if the donor is suddenly incapacitated then it’s going to take around 8 weeks to get it registered, the second is so that any errors like this will be picked up before it is too late.

An undated signature by an attorney disqualifies them from the roll, so if they are the only one then the whole thing fails.

The people to be told have no on going roll, but they can raise an objection during the registration period. This used to be a compulsory element of LPA applications but it is now just optional.

Tunstallstoven

This is all really helpful stuff, thanks so much

Tbh, I know little about it. I don't even know if it is registered or not, nor what that would entail. How can I find out?

The LPAs were done at the same time as their wills, but a will writing company. Whilst I hold my hands up and know it was a stupid mistake of mine not to date the signature, I'm surprised she didn't check it before sending off to storage with the wills. 

What's also annoying is that it's possible I have dated my dad's LPA and that this is all a worry about nothing! It's a shame she didn't give my dad a copy of it before sending off, otherwise we could simply check that.

Thanks again

MovingForwards

Your dad will need to review his will now, so get him to write to the company holding it and ask for it to be returned to him with the LPA.

You dad can check to see if the LPA is dated and if it is fine. But he may still want to do the new version.
If the LPA has an embossed seal or stamp on it, then it's been registered. Highly doubtful as people only tended to register them ones when capacity was starting to go.

Your dad can review his will, contact a local solicitors firm and get a new one done. The firm can store the old will, new will and LPA (if it's ok).

Have a look on the office of the public guardian site, they deal with registration of LPAs etc, they have the form for the new version and you can do it yourselves.

Flugelhorn

when the LPA forms are completed they are sent away to the office of the public guardian who checks them (I had one rejected over a problem with  a date) - they send them back with a seal / embossing which is the thing that makes it valid and registered - up until then it is just a bit of paper. only the original is a legal document but you can get certified copies signed  by a solicitor (or the LPA donor if they still have capacity ) 

Malthusian

Seagull27 said:

The LPAs were done at the same time as their wills, but a will writing company. Whilst I hold my hands up and know it was a stupid mistake of mine not to date the signature, I'm surprised she didn't check it before sending off to storage with the wills. 

Using a will writer was the mistake. Real solicitors make mistakes too, but they would have advised registering the LPOA immediately, at which point the error would have been spotted.

Your dad needs to see a proper solicitor to get his Will updated.

LPAs are straightforward and can be reliably DIYed, unlike Wills.

Tunstallstoven

Thanks for all the great help here.  I'm still looking into it and once I've got to the bottom of what's what I can update the thread and see what's the best way to move forward.  

Regarding DIY Wills...  The MSE article seems to suggest that it is ok to DIY a Will.  And I suppose using a Will Writer isn't really DIY'ing anyway.  The Will writer will update his Will for free, and obviously he has already paid her once to get it done in the first place.  I'm sure he wold be happy to have it redone with a solicitor, but only if it was really necessary to shell out the additional money.  My mum's Will is with Probate at the moment, so I suppose if there are no issues with her's during Probate then his should be fine too?  Or am I overlooking something?  

Cheers