There are four stages to making your lasting power of attorney: choosing your attorney(s), obtaining and completing the relevant forms, registering your lasting power of attorney and finally you must certify at least one copy. Each of these stages is outlined in closer detail below.
1. Appoint your attorney(s)
The first step is to choose the person, or people, you trust to be your lasting power of attorney. Here are some recommendations of what to consider when selecting yours.
They must:
- Be aged 18 or over
- Have mental capacity to make their own decisions
- Work well together (if you’re appointing more than one person)
Qualities to look for in a lasting power of attorney include:
- Well managed personal responsibilities
- Long-lasting relationship with you
- Trust
They can’t be your lasting power of attorney if they’re:
- Subject to a debt relief order
- Bankrupt
You can also nominate additional people to act as ‘replacement attorneys’ (replace yours should anything happen that means they can’t act on your behalf anymore). Our will writers and advisors will be happy to discuss your choice of attorneys with you, if you’d like further guidance choosing yours.
2. Signed and sealed
Next come the lasting power of attorney forms. You can locate and fill out these forms online via the Office of the Public Guardian, or seek the help of a solicitor or will writer. Either way, you need your attorneys and witnesses to sign the forms and you need to make sure the forms are completed correctly.
This is the biggest stage involved in making your lasting power of attorney from a physical effort point of view (the forms can take a few hours to fill out when doing so yourself). It’s recommended to get professional guidance to ensure your forms are valid – often people make errors and have to re-do this step when actioning the process independently.
3. Announce it
You need to register your lasting power of attorney or it won’t be valid and your attorney won’t be able to make decisions for you. The government manage a searchable database containing the details of all registered Lasting Power of Attorney.
How do I register?
You or the professional handling this for you will register with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). If you’re still able to make your own decisions, you and your advisor can register your lasting power of attorney. Otherwise, your attorney can do this for you. But you’ll be notified if they do and you can object to the registration. You know a copy of a lasting power of attorney is registered when the OPG have stamped it with ‘VALIDATED-OPG’.
Note that this is a straightforward stage (and will be handled by your advisor if you’re employing one) but it usually takes between 8 and 10 weeks to register a lasting power of attorney and that’s if there are no mistakes.
4. Make it official
The last step in making your lasting power of attorney is to certify a copy. You can do this yourself, or get it certified by a solicitor or other person authorised to carry out notarial activities. To certify your lasting power of attorney yourself, you need to:
- Write the following on the bottom of every page of this copy of the document; ‘I certify that this is a true and complete copy of the corresponding pages of the original lasting power of attorney’
- On the final page of the copy; ‘I certify this is a true and complete copy of the lasting power of attorney’
- Sign and date every page
Making your lasting power of attorney is an important step towards ensuring your financial security for the future. Our team of professional advisors are happy to discuss and assist with the process.