The process of registering a Lasting Power of Attorney can sometimes be a challenging task. You need to make sure the documents are produced properly before submitting them to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), otherwise they may reject them and this could mean you having to pay their registration cost again. Normally the OPG would take around 10-12 weeks to register a Lasting Power of Attorney, however at the present time the OPG are taking around 20 weeks to register Lasting Powers of Attorney – from the point they receive them. The OPG claim the lengthy delay is due to the backlog from COVID.

If you choose Inheritance Legal Services to produce your Lasting Powers of Attorney, we gather your information at the meeting including your full name, address and date of birth, and of-course your Attorneys information. Our consultants will act as your ‘Certificate Provider’, meaning we are signing the documents to say you have full capacity to make a Lasting Power of Attorney.  If your Attorneys are not at the meeting, don’t worry we can always send the documents to them for signing and witnessing (with instructions on how to do this). At the point we receive the documents back from all of your Attorneys, we check them and then send them on to the OPG for registration. 

Remember, you can only make a Lasting Power of Attorney whilst you have the capacity to do so, if it’s too late your family will have to apply for a ‘court appointed deputy’ which will be more money and take longer to arrange. A court appointed deputy may not be someone you wish to act for you.

If you would like further information about Lasting Powers of Attorney, including our fixed cost, please speak to a member of our friendly team on 0800 170 0475.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.