Backlog for Lasting Power of Attorney applications beginning to ease

The backlog for processing Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) applications is beginning to ease, according to figures provided by a government minister.

There have been concerns that processing by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has been taking too long, preventing families from being able to act on behalf of a vulnerable relative.

A backlog of applications built up during the Covid pandemic but now there are signs that the situation may be improving.

Justice Minister Mike Freer made a statement in Parliament that the time taken to register and process an LPA peaked last October at just over 20 weeks.

He said this figure had fallen to less than 18 weeks in February 2023 and he expected it to fall further by the end of this year.

However, Mr Freer would not give a date for when he expected the OPG’s target of only eight weeks to be met but added: “OPG staff are working shift patterns to register LPAs, extra staff have been hired, and process efficiencies have been implemented.”

An LPA is a legal document that you can draw up when you are fit and healthy, authorising someone you choose to make decisions on your behalf if you are no longer able to do so yourself at some point in the future.  

The property and finance LPA allows you to appoint someone to look after your financial affairs, and the personal welfare LPA lets you grant an attorney authority over such matters as health care and the kind of treatment you receive.   

Please contact us if you would like more information about Lasting Powers of Attorney.