During the summer, the Ministry of Justice launched a 12-week consultation into the process of registering and creating a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

A handy component of intergenerational wealth planning, LPAs are legal documents, introduced in 2007 to replace the Enduring Power of Attorney, that allow one person (the ‘donor’) to appoint another (the ‘attorney’) to manage their finances and/or general health and welfare. Questions have arisen in recent years, as to the system’s fitness for purpose. Also, concerns that unscrupulous relatives may be abusing the system to gain access to their elderly victims’ wealth, have arisen.

Time for tech

The Ministry of Justice commented, ‘The number of registered Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) has increased drastically in recent years to more than five million, but the process of making one retains many paper-based features that are over 30 years old… The consultation will look at how technology can be used to reform the process of witnessing, improve access and speed up the service.’

With the consultation closing in mid-October, the government intends to publish a response in January 2022.

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