Rachael Griffin: “Although the numbers have not yet returned to their previous levels, they are moving closer together and it is encouraging to see people receiving the valued security that an LPA brings.”
Permanent Powers of Attorney (LPA) approvals “significantly” declined during the pandemic as lockdown measures made the process more difficult, according to official sources.
A Freedom of Information request made by Quilter to the Justice Department revealed a 30% decrease in LPAs registered between April last year and February this year.
The advisory and wealth management business said that while the numbers had improved, they still had not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. With February this year 25% below February 2020.
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|
LPA registered |
LPA registered |
|||
|
April 19th |
67.279 |
20th of April |
19,829 |
|
|
May 19 |
67,767 |
May 20th |
32.253 |
|
|
June 19 |
70.153 |
20th June |
47,793 |
|
|
July 19th |
82.277 |
20th of July |
52.642 |
|
|
August 19th |
72.157 |
20th of August |
47,962 |
|
|
September 19th |
73,359 |
September 20th |
62,352 |
|
|
October 19th |
75.794 |
the 20th of October |
65,666 |
|
|
November 19th |
69,333 |
20th November |
59,968 |
|
|
19. December |
63,316 |
20th of December |
57,612 |
|
|
January 20th |
80,781 |
21th January |
61,047 |
|
|
20. February |
82.373 |
21st of February |
62,014 |
|
|
804,589 |
|
569.138 |
Quilter’s tax and financial planning expert, Rachael Griffin, said it had taken weeks for official guidance on the process to be released: “At the start of the pandemic, everyone was rushing to figure out how to continue offering services that previously required physical contact Getting a wet signature became problematic. For LPA applications, it took the Guardian’s Office (OPG) about a month to develop guidelines for use in the Covid-19 environment. “
She added: “In addition, the OPG stated that large inquiries have been received and requests have taken longer than usual to process. No wonder the number of registrations fell 70.5% year over year in April alone .
“While the numbers have still not returned to their previous levels, they are approaching and it is encouraging to see people receiving the valued security that an LPA brings.”
Why power of attorney is critical during the Covid-19 pandemic
Griffin urged people who were initially put off to apply now: “For those who have been put off by the difficulty of registering an LPA at the beginning of the lockdown or have not had the opportunity to have a potentially difficult conversation You do this. The task is back at the top of the to-do list. An LPA can only be registered if you have mental abilities – once you lose capacity, it’s too late. “
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