It is possible that any one of us could lose the capacity to manage our own affairs at some point in the future due to a variety of reasons such as illness, age, accident or injury.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you to choose someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf when you are no longer able to. Once appointed they would be called your attorney and would be able to make decisions regarding your health and care and financial affairs.
Once the document has been registered with the Office of The Public Guardian (OPG), your attorneys can use this to make decisions on your behalf as directed in your LPA. But how do you prove that you have an LPA?
Once registered the LPA itself will have a perforated stamp at the bottom of the front page, saying 'validated' and a stamp or box (or both) on the front page will also show the date that the document was registered. You can also confirm that a copy of your LPA is genuine by 'certifying' it, if you're still able to make your own decisions. You or your attorney can use the certified copy to register your LPA if you do not have the original document.
An OPG100 form can also be used in order to check the OPG registers to find out whether someone has a registered attorney or deputy appointed. Once completed the form can be emailed to the OPG at customerservices@publicguardian.gov.uk using ‘Registers’ as the subject. You can then expect a response to confirm whether the person has a valid LPA within a few days.
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