Problems with Lasting Powers of Attorney

Wendy Scarr B.A. (Hons) TEP
0113 320 5000
wills@winstonsolicitors.co.uk

The change over from enduring to lasting powers of attorney has not been hassle-free. Many lawyers have complained about the forms being so long and complicated that the system has become more expensive and cumbersome as a result.

In the first 18 months since the Court of Protection was set up to process the new LPAs, some 1,500 complaints were received with common themes emerging. Some were complaining of “bullying” letters they were sent by the court, while others told of “being treated like a criminal” when they were informed that they were deemed to be unsuitable to look after their relatives affairs.

There were also reports of long delays and cases where forms had been lost in the system, requiring some to start the whole process again. Problems have also been found with banks refusing to accept power of attorney instructions with some not complying with requests to deal with the matters sensitively. The Solicitors for the Elderly organisation says that it has seen many problems with the new system, with bank processes not being able to deal with vulnerable customers and banks simply not designed to cope with the extra demands that lasting power of attorney places on them.

Many of the grievances felt towards the LPAs are financial. The registration cost of £120 per LPA means that a couple requiring both personal welfare and property and affairs LPAs will face a registration fee, imposed by the Office of the Public Guardian, of £480.

With complaints over the cost of LPAs continuing, and allegations that some elderly people were dying before their financial affairs were put in order, in March 2009 the cost of registering an LPA fell from £150 to £120.

Regarding the other complaints, the Office of the Public Guardian said that it was using language that was easier to understand and was simplifying leaflets. It said that the new forms had been carefully designed through public consultations and usability tests so that many people would be able to fill them in without having to get legal assistance and added that the new form contained many of the options that a solicitor may have added into an Enduring Power of Attorney. Therefore, it argued, it would enable people to decide what they specifically wanted to go into their own LPA, giving them in theory greater flexibility and choice.

The office said of the new rules: “There is significant support for LPAs because they give people more choice to plan ahead for the future and have safeguards that help to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society.”

Jennifer Margrave, a member of Solicitors for the Elderly, added her support, saying: “Most headlines have painted the changes as negative on cost and complexity grounds. But the new rules empower older people in telling their family how they want to live their lives if they become incapable of making decisions.” She also echoed the commonly held view that the EPA system made it far too easy for an unscrupulous child to steal a parent’s assets.