SINGAPORE: About 87,000 electronic Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) documents were found to be lacking a required statement that could leave them open to a potential legal challenge.
The documents – certified between Nov 14, 2022 and Jan 4, 2024 – are still legally valid, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
But to avoid the possibility of any legal challenges due to the omission of the statement, the ministry on Wednesday (Mar 6) introduced a Bill to retroactively validate these LPAs. This will remove any uncertainty about the validity of the affected electronic LPAs, said MSF.
An LPA allows an appointed person to make medical and financial decisions on behalf of another individual should they lose mental capacity.
Under the current Mental Capacity Act, an electronic LPA must clearly state on its face that it is intended to be a deed by the donor.
Even though the significance and effect of an LPA are clearly explained in the electronic document, the affected LPA documents did not expressly state that it is a deed, MSF said in a media release.
The documents were thus not in compliance with the provision in the current Mental Capacity Act, said the ministry added, apologising for the omission.
LPA documents made through the hardcopy process are not affected, said MSF.
“To remove any uncertainty as to the validity of the electronic LPAs certified from Nov 14, 2022 to Jan 4, 2024, the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill will retroactively validate these LPAs,” it added.
“The affected donors do not need to remake their LPAs, and no action is required by members of public.”