By Phil Hickson – SVP, Global Partnerships at The Estate Registry
There was some very interesting research recently published regarding Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) by Hargreaves Lansdown, the financial advisers.
In a Freedom of Information Request made to the Office of the Public Guardian, there were no fewer than 1,370,546 applications received in the last financial year (2023/2024), of which 50,918 were rejected (3.7%).
The reasons for rejection were many and varied: some were simple and thoroughly avoidable such as a misspelled name, signing in the wrong order, or simply that the handwriting on the application form was illegible. Other reasons were more complicated: issuing confusing or conflicting instructions and preferences, for example, or trying to dictate how a replacement attorney should act.
A Lasting Power of Attorney gives an individual the ability to nominate someone else to make decisions on that individual’s behalf if they are unable to do so. They are increasingly in the news in relation to the rise in dementia and Alzheimer’s as families seek to plan for a time when that individual’s judgment will be impaired and they become increasingly vulnerable.
As Hargreaves Lansdown attests, it makes sense to establish an LPA at the point of creating a Will. It also makes sense for an individual to organise their finances at the same time, closing accounts they no longer use, and consolidating savings and investments as far as possible. Planning in this way will make it more straightforward for a legal representative not only in exercising their duties under an LPA, but also at the time of passing.
It is interesting to note that the number of people applying for an LPA has accelerated in recent years. At the time of writing, there are more than eight million powers of attorney on the official register. The volume of applications has risen by 60% in five years.
Ask Probate Solicitors for their view of the whole process of planning for and managing a death and they will say that it is often unnecessarily complicated and even unfair on those who are left behind. Various digital tools are available that can help in legacy planning that could be more widely used at the time of arranging an LPA if these tools had greater awareness and visibility, and if they were more widely promoted by the professional community.
It is interesting, therefore, that changes to the LPA process are in the pipeline to streamline matters and make it less paper-based and more digital. Let us hope that such proposals come to fruition. Let us hope, also, that those in authority takes a more holistic view of life before and after death, and that the same digital thinking is applied to other areas such as digital lockboxes and notifications, to make life easier for everyone concerned.
This article was submitted to be published by The Estate Registry as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
