The Office of the Public Guardian will look to make the application process for Lasting Power of Attorneys (LPA) fully automated and online.
The Office for the Public Guardian (OPG) released their safeguarding strategy that will be implemented until 2025 earlier this week. Embedded within point 5 of the document entitled ‘Greater support for our users,’ the OPG claim that they will improve their online services and ‘look for ways to make applying to register an LPA a fully online service to make it easier for our users.’
The OPG are looking to normalise the use of later life planning and planning for a lack of capacity by encouraging the majority of people over the age of eighteen to make a valid LPA. The national awareness campaign ‘Your Voice, Your Decision’ will target those who have overlooked the importance of making a Will or planning for a lack of capacity.
Currently, a donor is able to make, edit and amend an LPA application online. However, the document can only be officially registered by submitting a hard copy with a ‘wet signature’ provided by the attorneys, witnesses and official certificate provider who can confirm the donor is making the LPA by choice and with a clear understanding.
The OPG remain concerned that this system is slow, inefficient and can become the deterrent in people using such a vital service.
When the OPG first introduced the online application system, many feared that diluting the rigour involved with creating the physical document could lead to an increase in people contesting the validity of such an important document.
According to the most recent statistics available from HM Courts and Tribunals Service, contested cases being fought in High Court have increased in recent years.
In 2017, 225 Will disputes or aggrieved loved ones making a claim under the 1975 Inheritance Act for England and Wales were made. This figure represented a 25% increase from the 178 claims made in 2012.
As the implementation of a fully online service is considered, it is thought that the use of an e-signature will encourage more disgruntled relatives to contest the validity of LPA documents. However, creating a digital system that users demand could also result in a dramatic increase in the demand of LPAs.
Will the use of a fully online LPA application process lead to an increase in contested document numbers? Or, will a system that is more convenient for the consumer lead to a greater uptake in this important later life protection?
