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More people applying for Lasting Power of Attorney

This article is more than 12 months old

Numbers prompt plan for online system

The number of people appointing someone to act on their behalf if they become mentally incapacitated, through a legal document called a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), has soared.

The Straits Times has learnt that this, among other factors, has prompted the authorities to plan for an online system for LPA applications, to cut the processing time and make it more convenient for applicants.

In the first eight months of this year, 16,279 people applied for an LPA, according to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), the agency that protects the interests of the mentally incapacitated.

The number compares with 13,919 individuals who did so last year and 2,373 people in 2013.

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A Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) spokesman said the spike could stem from greater awareness of the benefits of an LPA, as well as a waiver of the $75 application fee for Singaporeans since 2014.

Now, applications can be made only through hard copy submissions, which require manual processing.

The online system - expected to be implemented in 2021 - should cut the processing time from the average of 60 working days it takes for an LPA to be registered.

More details will be given when they are ready, an MSF spokesman told The Straits Times. The OPG comes under the ministry.

The issue of the waiting time needed for an LPA to be registered was raised in Parliament this month by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Dennis Tan.

Speaking to ST, Mr Tan said: "Once someone decides on doing an LPA, he or she will desire that the LPA will take effect when required... the earlier the registration takes effect, there will be greater certainty."

The average waiting time required to register an LPA received by the OPG in July this year was 60 working days, the MSF spokesman said.

This includes the mandatory 30-working-day waiting period under the law, which allows a person to withdraw his application and for the person appointed to act on his behalf to raise objections. If no valid objections are made during the period, the LPA will be registered.

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