The LPA, explained
A will protects your family after you are gone. The Lasting Power of Attorney protects everyone, including you, while you are still alive. It is the most overlooked document in Singapore estate planning, and often the most important.
What an LPA actually is
An LPA is a legal document in which you appoint one or more people you trust, called donees, to make decisions on your behalf if you ever lose the mental capacity to make them yourself. Loss of capacity can come from dementia, a stroke, or an accident, at any age. The LPA only takes effect if that day comes. Until then, it simply waits.
Your donees can be given power over two areas: your personal welfare, such as where you live and your medical care, and your property and affairs, such as your bank accounts, bills and property. You choose who does what.
What happens without one
This is the part most people get wrong. Many assume their spouse or children can simply step in. They cannot. Without an LPA, your accounts are effectively frozen and your family must apply to court to be appointed your deputy before they can act for you.
Deputyship is slower, more expensive and more stressful than an LPA, and it happens at the worst possible time, while your family is already coping with your condition. The court also chooses the deputy, which may not be who you would have chosen.
Why every adult should consider it
- Capacity loss is not an old age problem. Accidents and strokes do not check birthdays.
- You choose your decision makers while you are well, instead of a court choosing later.
- Your family avoids frozen accounts and a court process during a crisis.
- It is inexpensive to set up and sits quietly unless ever needed.
How to get one done
- Most people use the standard form, LPA Form 1, which grants general powers. It is done online through the Office of the Public Guardian's portal, using Singpass.
- Choose your donees carefully and talk to them first. Being a donee is a responsibility, not just an honour.
- Visit a certificate issuer, an accredited doctor, practising lawyer or psychiatrist, who confirms you understand the LPA and are not under pressure. They charge a professional fee.
- The LPA is then registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. Check the OPG website for current application fees. Fee waivers for Singapore Citizens on Form 1 have applied in recent years.
LPA and will, side by side
Think of it simply. The LPA works while you are alive but cannot decide. The will works after you are gone. The CPF nomination covers your CPF. Insurance nominations cover your policies. A complete plan has all of them, working together. Most families we meet have one or two, and gaps in the rest.
Which documents do you already have?
Our free three minute readiness check maps your gaps across all of them, in plain English.
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