GovWire

Millions of people in the UK have created a lasting power of attorney (LPA), so you may need to deal with one at some point. If an attorney brings an LPA and needs to use it, both they and the LPA must first be verified.

An LPA can be verified using either the paper document or the digital service View a lasting power of attorney (View an LPA). View an LPA is the online, secure service that allows companies and organisations to check LPAs online.

Only LPAs registered on or after 1 January 2016 can be verified on View an LPA.

The View an LPA service

View an LPA shows you any information you may need to allow an attorney to make decisions on behalf of one of your customers. For example, it will tell you:

• the donors details name, address and date of birth
• the attorneys details how many there are, their names, addresses and dates of birth
• how decisions are made by the attorneys
• the donors choice on life sustaining treatment, if the LPA is for health and welfare
• any instructions and preferences written by the donor, which could affect or even disallow what the attorney intends to do
• whether the LPA is still valid and registered

You can download a copy of the LPA summary, to store.

You can only use View an LPA to access LPAs registered in England and Wales. It doesnt show LPAs registered in Scotland, Northern Ireland or abroad. It also doesnt show enduring powers of attorney (EPAs).

Using View an LPA

You can find the View an LPA service atwww.gov.uk/view-lasting-power-of-attorney

To see the LPA, you need a LPA access code, supplied by the attorney or donor. An access code 13 characters long and begins with the letter V.

Enter the donors surname and the 13-character code. If an LPA is found, you will see the full name of the donor and the LPA type. Check the donors full name matches your customers name. If it doesnt, have the attorney check the code again.

Check the LPA type, and that it is appropriate for the decision that needs to be made. Is it a decision about the donors finances and property or about their health and wellbeing? If it isnt the right type, have the attorney provide the code for the correct LPA type.

You must give the name of your company or organisation. This is recorded along with the date so that the donor and any other attorneys can see when and how the LPA is being used.

You can then view the LPA itself.

If the attorney cannot create a valid access code

If the attorney doesnt know how to create an access code or has given you an invalid one, you can ask them to go to GOV.UK and search for LPA access codes.

Why use View an LPA?

Using View an LPA means you can see the details of the LPA without the attorney needing to provide the paper version, which they would have to bring in person or post to you. There are many benefits for you, the customer and the attorney to do it this way.

It saves time and resources

The online summary contains all the information needed to confirm the LPA can be used and to verify an attorney on it. This is more efficient, as:

• the essential information is summarised on one page online, whereas it is found throughout several sections of the paper version
• if you need a copy of the LPA for your records, you can download the PDF. With the paper version, the necessary pages of the paper LPA must be scanned in
• a posted LPA could take days to arrive and be returned, and could leave your customer without someone to act for them in the meantime
• if a replacement attorney needs to start acting for the donor, the paper LPA must be returned to us to be amended and then sent back to the attorney. With the online summary, you can see the update much sooner

It offers extra security

All the information on View an LPA is accurate when you view it, whereas the paper LPA can only display the information it contained when it was registered. Up-to-date information is vital as:

• an LPA can only be used if its current status is Registered. Anyone using it unregistered is breaking the law
• the donor might have removed an attorney, and no longer wants them to make decisions. The paper LPA might not reflect this change
• a replacement attorney might have started acting for the donor, who could affect how any other attorneys make decisions
• the attorney might have changed their name or address, information used to verify their identity. If they have already notified us, View an LPA will show the new details. However, the paper LPA cannot be changed.

There is no risk of the paper document being lost in the post or intercepted, when it is being sent to you or when you are returning it to the attorney. This brings additional security.

Multiple people can access the LPA at the same time

There is only one copy of the registered paper LPA, but there may be more than one attorney. While it is being used by one attorney, any others cant act on behalf of the donor. If a decision urgently needed to be made and the registered paper LPA (or a certified copy) wasnt available, the attorney wouldnt legally be able to do so.

However, each attorney on an LPA, and the donor, can generate access codes for the companies they need to deal with.

The information on that LPA could be critical. If it is for health and welfare, it will include the donors choice on life-sustaining treatment, and whether their attorneys can give or refuse consent to those treatments on their behalf.

Other ways to verify a registered paper LPA

An attorney may bring you a registered paper LPA instead of an access code. While an LPA registered on or after 1 January 2016 can be verified either online or on paper, an LPA registered before that date can only be verified and used with the paper document.

There have been 3 different sets of LPA forms since they launched in 2007, and you can see examples of valid LPAs made with each of these forms.