Search results
People also ask
Who can witness an attorney's signature?
Who can witness a signature for a lasting power of attorney?
Can an attorney witness a donor's signature?
Who can witness a power of attorney?
Who can be a witness for an LPA?
Can you be a witness if you appoint an attorney?
Feb 13, 2024 · An attorney’s spouse can witness their signature if they are over the age of 18 and not the donor. LPA forms must be completed in a specific order, for more information please see our...
- Summary
- About this guidance
- Using the correct form for your LPA
- Printing your LPA
- The certificate provider
- Making mistakes and making corrections to your LPA
- Donor and attorney details
- Health and welfare: life-sustaining treatment (section 5)
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.
This gives you more control over what happens to you if you have an accident or an illness and cannot make your own decisions (you ‘do not have mental capacity’).
This guide will help you complete the LPA forms and avoid making common mistakes.
In this guide ‘you’ means the donor.
It’s important that the LPA forms are filled out correctly. The attorneys you have appointed may not be able to make important decisions for you if there is an error in the LPA.
If you make an error on your LPA, it could mean:
•a delay in the registration process
•your LPA is not legally valid
There are two LPA forms:
•LP1F for property and financial affairs
•LP1H for health and welfare decisions
Most sections in the forms are similar. Make sure you have:
•the correct pages for your type of LPA
•all pages numbered 1 to 20, including the information page (section 8, page 9)
The easiest way to complete an LPA is to use OPG’s ‘Make a lasting power of attorney’ online service. It helps guide you through the process and can help reduce errors. At the end you will need to print the form so that it can be signed and dated. The online service is only available in English.
Alternatively, you may decide to print the forms to fill in yourself. If you cannot print the forms yourself, you can request an LPA pack to be sent to your address by calling our contact centre on 0300 456 0300.
The LPA is a legal form so needs to be clearly printed; the forms should match how they look online. Please make sure your PDF software is updated to prevent possible issues.
Check everything on the form before you print it, including details that have been pre-populated if you have made your LPA online. You must make sure all the words are printed on the correct pages and do not follow on to the next page.
Certificate providers are impartial people who confirm you understand what you are doing, and that nobody is forcing you to make the LPA.
You must choose a certificate provider who is impartial. Being impartial means the certificate provider can judge or consider the LPA fairly without allowing their own interest to influence their role. Examples of people that won’t be accepted are: family members, an attorney, your employee.
Your attorneys will need to show your LPA document to third parties when they begin to act for you. Therefore, it’s important that all the details on the LPA are correct.
Do not use any type of correction fluid or stickers as OPG won’t be able to register your LPA and you will have to pay again for a new LPA.
Each mistake on an LPA form needs to be corrected and initialled.
The person who made the mistake must initial (write their initials next to) the correction. This is shown in the examples below.
You need to make sure all the details for yourself and your attorneys are correct. These include:
•full name (the name on your identification document(s))
•date of birth in the format DD/MM/YYYY
•address and postcode
You will write this information in section 1 and section 2 of the form. This also relates to section 4 if you decide to have replacement attorneys.
If you have made a mistake, for example you’ve written a wrong date of birth, please refer to the ‘Making mistakes and making corrections to your LPA’ section of this guidance.
You must choose either option A or option B. You must only sign and date one option.
This section has a different layout to the other sections of the LPA form. The difference is how the witness details are laid out. They go across the bottom of the form.
You need to make sure the witness gives their full name and address, and signs in the correct box:
This section has to be filled out correctly for the LPA to be valid. Any errors on this page may result in you having to make a new LPA and paying the fee again.
Dec 15, 2023 · Moving now to who can witness an attorney’s (and replacement attorney’s) signature. All attorneys (and replacement attorneys must sign the Lasting Power of Attorney and their signatures must be witnessed. The same guidance applies for attorney witnesses as for donor witnesses (listed above).
- Clare Fuller
Attorneys cannot witness the donor’s signature (that of the person making the LPA). All witnesses must be over 18 years of age. The certificate provider can be a witness to the donor’s signature, and is often the best choice, since he or she must be present to certify the LPA anyway.
Who can be a witness or certificate provider. Witnesses and certificate providers must be 18 or over. Attorneys can witness each other sign, but they cannot: witness you sign. sign as the ...
Witnessing the attorney's signature on a power of attorney. Here are the rules on who can witness a lasting power of attorney this time: The witness must be over 18. The same witness can watch all attorneys and replacements sign. Attorneys and replacements can all witness each other signing.
Jul 23, 2024 · The LPA documents require signatures from not only the donor but also the attorneys. These signatures must be witnessed by one other person and the witness must be present, not watching the donor sign online or on a video call.
