For an overview of what LPA is, please read our first article here.
Once your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) has been signed by all named you or your appointed solicitor will forward your LPA to the Office of the Public Guardian. The Office of the Public Guardian anticipate a timescale of up to 20 weeks from when your LPA application was received. Once your LPA application has been processed, the Office of the Public Guardian will then forward the registered LPA document to you or your appointed solicitor.
What is next?
1. Review the Registered LPA
- Confirm Registration: Verify that the LPA is officially stamped as registered, which indicates it has been processed and is legally valid. To elaborate further, your registered LPA will usually have VALIDATED-OPG perforated at the bottom of each page, with an LPA reference and date of registration.
2. Distribute Copies
- Provide Copies to Attorneys: Give copies of the registered LPA to your attorneys. They may need these to prove their authority to act on your behalf.
- Inform Relevant Institutions: If the LPA pertains to financial matters, you should provide copies to banks, investment companies, and any other relevant institutions. They may require a certified copy to update their records and recognise your attorneys.
3. Store the Original Document Safely
- Secure Storage: Keep the original registered LPA in a safe place where it can be easily accessed if needed. This might be in a safe deposit box, a secure filing cabinet, or another secure location.
- Consider a Digital Copy: Although you should keep the original safe, you might also want to keep digital copies (e.g., scanned copies) for convenience, but ensure they are securely stored.
What if you would rather access and share your LPA online?
The Office of the Public Guardian have launched an online service which allows donors and attorneys to give organisations access to view an online summary of their LPA .
Once your LPA is registered, donors and attorneys should be forwarded an activation key.
Donors and attorneys can then create an online account and use the activation key to add their LPAs onto the portal.
Once the above steps have been completed, the donor and attorney can then make an access code which they can share with the relevant organisations and this will give organisations access to view the LPA summary.
For further information and guidance on the above, please visit: https://publicguardian.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/13/your-questions-answered-using-your-lpa/