How to Avoid Your Lasting Power of Attorney Application Being Rejected…

More than 50,000 Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) applications were rejected by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) in 2023-2024 due to errors.

According to Freedom of Information (FOI) data obtained by Which, 50,918 applications were rejected due to mistakes in 2023-24. 30,180 (60%) of these were related to property and financial affairs.

In the past five years, a total of 162,023 applications have been rejected.

Figures from the Office for Public Guardian (OPG) show that pre-pandemic in 2019, 842,778 LPAS were registered but in 2022 this had reduced to 777,741 LPA applications. However, these figures have improved from the lower levels of registration recorded in 2020 and 2021. In addition, according to the Ministry of Justice, the number of LPA registrations in the first quarter of 2023 is up by one third compare with this period last year in 2022.

The FOI data also showed that on average in 2022-23 it took 91.5 working days to register and dispatch an LPA application, which is over 4 months long. The shortest period to register and dispatch an application was 20 days; this was for highly urgent cases and includes the statutory notice period. While the longest period was 983 days in a case where it was necessary to refer the matter to the Court of Protection, which equates to well over 2 years.

What happens if your LPA is rejected?

It costs £82 to register each LPA – so a total of £164 to register both a financial and property affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA.

If you make a mistake, your LPA will be rejected and therefore won’t be legally valid. You'll then have to apply again within three months and pay a repeat application fee of £41. 

Even if your LPA is approved by the OPG, there may be hidden errors which could make it unusable in the future. 

For instance, if you appoint your friend Carole as an attorney but her name is entered as 'Carol' (missing the ‘e’), the OPG may still register it. However, when Carole presents the LPA at the bank, it might be rejected as it won’t match the name on her ID.

Quilter suggest that the below 5 common reasons why LPA applications get rejected are:

1. Incorrect signing order: The donor, certificate provider or attorneys have not signed and dated the LPAs in the correct order – the donor must sign the LPAs first, then the certificate provider, then the attorneys, and thereafter, the person registering the LPA must sign again (either the attorney or the donor). Parties often sign the LPAs in the wrong order, which is not allowed.

2. Missing information: This is often the date that the donor, attorneys, or certificate provider have signed the LPAs, or sometimes their signatures have not been witnessed. The LPAs must be completed in their entirety before they can be submitted to the OPG to be registered.

3. Incorrect witnesses: Parties often use witnesses to witness signatures who are not allowed to be used – for example, an attorney cannot witness the signature of a donor because there is a conflict of interest in doing so.

4. Unworkable LPA requests: The donor might appoint attorneys to make decisions one way, and then include instructions to make them act differently, making the LPAs unworkable– for example, if you have three attorneys appointed in your LPA, and the LPA says attorneys should act “jointly and severally”, you cannot then include an instruction in the LPA to say that decisions are made by majority vote, as by acting jointly and severally, all of the Attorneys have equal power to act and make decisions.

5. Not providing full names: Parties often submit LPAs without giving the full information required – for example, witnesses often cause an LPA to be rejected by not noting their full details on the LPAs– the witnesses must give their full name (including their full middle names), and not just their initials with their surname. This is important as banks and other financial institutions may refuse to grant the attorney access to funds if there are spelling mistakes or discrepancies in the documentation.

Completing an LPA application – the do's and don'ts 

Filling out an application for LPA can be a complex process, and taking the time to get it right is essential. 

Follow these 'dos' and 'don’ts' to help ensure your application is processed smoothly.

DO use full names

Double check all names, birth dates, and addresses are correct for you and your attorneys. 

Using initials instead of full names, or omitting middle names and details, are common reasons for rejection.

DO check your witnesses are eligible

The document must be signed and witnessed, but parties often use witnesses who aren’t permitted. 

For example, an attorney cannot witness the donor’s signature due to a conflict of interest. If witness information is incorrect or missing, the LPA will not be registered.

DO make sure it’s signed in the correct order

The signing order is critical. The donor signs first, followed by the certificate provider, then the attorneys. 

Once this is complete, the person registering the LPA (either the attorney or the donor) must sign again.

Make sure all dates are correct and avoid signing the application page prematurely.

DON'T get the forms mixed up

Make sure you’re using the LP1F form for property and financial affairs, or the LP1H form for health decisions, and check that it’s the most recent version. 

Outdated forms or pages from different LPA types will lead to rejection.

DON'T use pencil or correcting gel

Only use black or blue ink as pencil and correction fluids aren’t allowed. 

If you make an error, cross it out neatly, write the correction beside it, and initial it. Each correction must be initialled by the person making it.

DON'T make contradictions

Avoid conflicting instructions. For instance, if attorneys are appointed to act 'jointly and severally,' don’t include instructions that require a majority vote. 

Conflicting instructions can make the LPA unworkable or invalid.

DON'T skip a thorough review

Consider having a trusted friend or family member with an eye for detail review your application thoroughly before it’s sent off. 

Alternatively, you can pay a solicitor or specialist services such as the Which? POA service to check for mistakes before submitting the application.

If you would like your lasting power of attorney completed by an expert in this field, please get in touch with us today. We can come to your home and discuss in an informal no obligation setting.