Lasting Power Of Attorney

Avoiding Invalid Powers of Attorney

A recent paper entitled “Avoiding Invalid Provisions in your LPA‟ written by Jill Martin who is a Legal Adviser to the Public Guardian, aims to explain how to avoid the need for severance. Which delays registration and can cause annoyance and frustration to donors and attorneys.

The paper states that on a monthly basis month the Public Guardian makes a large number of applications to the Court of Protection to “Sever” invalid provisions from Lasting Powers of Attorney that have been sent into the Office of the Public Guardian for registration.

Avoiding Invalid Provisions in your LPA

Whether you are a Professional Adviser completing LPA,s on behalf of a Donor or a Donor who is undertaking the task alone, this paper is well worth reading to avoid any potential pitfalls that could cause a delay in the registration of your LPA.

The paper covers the following topics:

What is severance
How to find out more information
The most common invalid restrictions and conditions
Pitfalls to avoid if you appoint attorneys to act jointly for some decisions and jointly and severally for others
Invalid provisions about when a replacement attorney is to start acting
Other invalid provisions about replacement attorneys
Provisions you cannot include in a Property and Financial Affairs LPA
Provisions you cannot include in a Health and Welfare LPA
Invalid provisions about getting the consent of third parties