Notaries Public. Commissioners for Oaths
A Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”) is a legal instrument to allow another
(“your donee”) to act on your behalf in the event that you lose the mental
capacity to make your own decisions in the future. This allows you, as a donor,
to make a considered choice as to who your donee should be.
There are two LPA forms available from the website of the Office of the Public
Guardian (OPG). Form 1 is a simplified form that may be filled in by yourself,
while Form 2 will require drafting by lawyers. However, all forms require a
lawyer's witnessing before it may be submitted to the OPG.
The powers given to your donee under a LPA are only activated when the donor loses
mental capacity, and not at the time of execution of the LPA.
A LPA enables the donee to have powers in relation to 2 major aspects on behalf of the
donor, namely: a) personal welfare, and b) property and affairs.
The requirements for making a LPA are as follows:
A deputy is someone empowered by the Court to make decisions on behalf of a person who lacks mental capacity if that person has not made a Lasting Power of Attorney and has no deputy to act on his behalf. An application may be made to the Court for someone to be appointed deputy under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Please refer to our guide to MCA Applications to find out more.
A Mental Capacity Act (“MCA”) application is required when no Lasting Power of Attorney ("LPA") has been registered, so as to empower one to manage the personal welfare, property and affairs for the principal. These persons who are empowered to act on behalf of the principal are known as “deputies”.
The intended deputies are required to keep statements, vouchers, receipts and
other
financial records in the administration of the Principal’s property and affairs.
These
include all bank statements, financial statements from SGX, and evidence of all
expenses
incurred for the principal in respect of medical bills and receipts of any
housing or care
arrangements.
Further, the deputies are also jointly required to keep a record of decisions
made or
actions are made relating to the principal's property and affairs.
In an MCA application, the consent of relevant persons in the principal‘s life would have to be obtained. The Court also considers the benefit to the person to whom the application relates of the proposed order or direction, such as whether a Will was executed in favour of the deputy that is intending to be appointed.
“Relevant persons” as defined by the Family Justice Rules Practice
Directions 2015
refers to :-
Persons who have an involvement in the principal‘s life and/or who are
likely to have an
interest in the application. Often, the principal's immediate family
members, by virtue
of their relationship to the principal, are likely to have an interest
in being notified
that an application has been made to the Court concerning the principal.
"Relevant persons" for the purpose of Rule 179 of the Family Justice
Rules will
therefore often include the following immediate family members:
(a) The principal‘s spouse;
(b) The principal‘s children (aged 21 and above);
(c) The principal‘s parents or guardians; and
(d) The principal‘s brothers and sisters (aged 21 and above).
Our firm is one of the pioneers in filing for MCA applications in the
Family Justice
Courts, and had also previously been invited to discuss changes to the
Mental Capacity
Act.
We are experienced in handling mental capacity applications and pledge
to quickly
resolve your application in a comprehensive and trustworthy manner.
If you have made an appointment for a consultation with our lawyers, kindly ensure you bring the following documents with you: