Lasting power of attorney: protecting donors from abuse

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out provisions for adults to retain a degree of choice and control over who makes decisions on their behalf should they be unable to make those decisions themselves by setting up a lasting power of attorney (LPA).

Section 9 of the 2005 Act states that an LPA allows a person – the donor – to confer the following on one or more people they trust – the donee, more commonly called the attorney:

A power of attorney is a legal instrument that must be properly created and executed before it becomes effective (Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 9(3)). Although the 2005 Act applies generally applies to those aged 16 years and over, only adults can execute an LPA (Mental Capacity Act 2005).

Efforts by successive governments to improve the uptake of LPAs seem to be having an impact, with some 7 million LPAs now registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. In its latest annual report, the Office of the Public Guardian (2024) stated that it had received 1.37 million requests to register LPAs during 2023–2024, with 1 million requests having been received over the period 2022–2023.