Signing and Witnessing

Once we have processed your LPA and sent it out to you, it’s important the documents are signed and witnessed correctly. Although the people fulfilling the various roles have already been added to the documents electronically, there is still a requirement for those people to sign (in the presence of witnesses) and have your witnesses correctly witness each signature.

Note: Assuming we’re processing LPAs for both Property and Finance & Health & Welfare, be aware that the signature and witness process is slightly different for each type of LPA (Health and Welfare requires one additional set of signatures). We would recommend that all parties get together, sign and witness at the same time. It makes things far simpler and less error prone.

First thing’s first: use a black pen and make sure that where a witness is required to write their address, they enter the address in block capitals.

Property and Finance

1. Donor signs and dates section 9 in the presence of their witness, who then also signs and dates (witness is also required to enter their address)

2. Certificate provider signs and dates section 10 (there is no witness required here)

3. Attorneys sign and date section 11 in the presence of their witness who then also signs and dates (witness is also required to enter their address)

4. The applicant signs and dates section 15 (there is no witness required here)

Health and Welfare

1. Donor signs and dates sections 5 and then 9 in the presence of their witness, who also signs and dates both sections (witness is also required to enter their address)

2. Certificate provider signs and dates section 10 (there is no witness required here)

3. Attorneys sign and date section 11 in the presence of their witness who then also signs and dates (witness is also required to enter their address)

4. The applicant signs and dates section 15 (there is no witness required here)

Note: If the LPAs are not signed and witnessed correctly, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) will not process the LPA. They will return the LPA to you directly, providing the detail as to what has been incorrectly signed. A new LPA would then need to be submitted and a new, although reduced, registration fee will be charged by the OPG. Therefore it’s important to get the signatures done correctly first time around. Common errors to avoid during the signature phase are: missing signatures or dates, missing witnesses, incorrect order of dates. However these errors can easily be avoided by simply following the above 4 steps for each document in order.