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How to cancel a lasting power of attorney

An excerpt from Lawpack's Power of Attorney Kit.

In power of attorney terms, the person who grants (and can cancel) the power of attorney is referred to as the 'Donor' and the person (or persons) who acts on their behalf is known as the 'Attorney'.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can be cancelled (called 'revoked' in power of attorney terms) at any time by the Donor). 

An LPA can be cancelled at any time while the Donor still has mental capacity.

If you want to revoke an LPA, you will need a Deed of Revocation form.

How to cancel a power of attorney

To cancel a power of attorney, the Deed must be signed by the Donor and the Attorney must be informed that their power to act has been revoked.

The Attorney's authority doesn't cease until they receive notice of the revocation, so a copy of the form should be sent to each Attorney. 

The Donor must also demand that the Attorney return the power of attorney to them, to confirm that the power has been cancelled.

If the LPA has already been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, the Donor must send the OPG a copy of the Deed to ask them to remove the LPA from the register.

When an LPA is cancelled automatically

There are instances when an LPA is cancelled automatically and these are:

• The Attorney dies and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney.
  
  
• The Attorney refuses to act by disclaiming the appointment and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney.
  
  
• The Attorney is married to the Donor (or is the Donor’s civil partner) and the marriage or civil partnership is ended by divorce or dissolution and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney. The LPA may, though, state that the appointment is not to cease in this case and so will not be revoked.
  
  
• The Attorney ceases to have capacity to exercise the LPA and there are no other Attorneys (or the Attorneys can only act together) and there is no replacement Attorney.
  
  
• In the case of the LPA Property and Financial Affairs only, when the Donor or Attorney become bankrupt.

Lawpack publishes a Deed of Revocation template, which can help you to easily cancel your LPA. The form is lawyer approved and includes expert guidance.

External links:

• NHS: Cancelling an LPA

Published on: February 6, 2012

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