Lasting Power of Attorney:
Who makes the decisions?

Who would you trust to make decisions for you?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) lets you decide who makes decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so yourself.

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WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU
AS AN LGBTQ+ INDIVIDUAL

Why You Should Make A LPA

1

State specifically who takes charge of your life decisions

Safeguard your interests by appointing a person or a few people as your donees.

Your donees will help to ensure your wellbeing and prioritise your wants and needs if you ever lose mental capacity to make your own decisions.

No one will be appointed by default, which means that it will be especially difficult for your loved ones to care for you without an LPA.

2

Reduce potential difficulties faced by loved ones

If no one has been nominated, your loved ones may not be able to make necessary medical arrangements or take care of your financials.

Gift yourself a peace of mind by making a LPA and be assured that your life would be in the secure hand(s) of your loved ones should anything ever happen.

3

Prevent additional cost and time needed

Without a LPA, your loved ones would have to go through Court to be appointed as your deputy in order to act on your behalf.

Due to a lack of recognition of LGBTQ+ partners, the court is more likely to appoint a blood relative as your deputy rather than your LGBTQ+ partner.

The whole application process for deputyship would require more time and money than making an LPA — plus, you’ll lose the freedom to choose who gets to act on your behalf.

How A LPA Works

Your donees can be appointed to manage the following two areas.
To break it down, we have included examples of powers that your donees will have in these areas.

1

Personal Welfare

  • Where you should live
  • Day to day care decisions
  • Handling of personal mail
  • Who you may have contact with
  • Healthcare/Medical treatment decisions

2

Property and Affairs

  • Buying, selling, renting or mortgaging of your property
  • Operating your bank accounts
  • Managing your CPF monies
  • Paying household expenses
  • Purchasing of any equipment that you might need

How To Make A LPA

For more details, you can visit the Ministry of Social and Family Development webpage here.

For Most People

Click on this link and complete LPA Form 1.

LPA Form 1 is a standard version that allows you to nominate 2 donees with general rights — for most people, this form serves as a quick and fuss-free way of getting your LPA done!

Of course, don’t forget to get the people that you have appointed as donees to agree and sign the form as well.

Quick Tip

You can also complete Form 1 digitally with the LPA-ACP tool on the My Legacy website here.

For Additional Customisation

If you want to be more specific about who decides what, there’s another option available for you as well. Follow this link and download the relevant documents under LPA Form 2.

LPA Form 2 allows you to:

  • Appoint more than 2 donees and/or more than 1 replacement donee
  • Grant specific or customised powers that fall outside of LPA Form 1.

However, the annex to Section 4 of LPA Form 2 has to be drafted by a lawyer, and will cost you $200 (for Singapore Citizens) to make an application with LPA Form 2.

To Submit

You will need to find either one of the following individuals to be your LPA certificate issuer:

  • Accredited medical practitioner
  • Lawyer
  • Psychiatrist

Quick Tip

You can find a certificate issuer from here.

You will then need to send the following documents to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) by post. 

  • LPA Form 1 or Form 2;
  • Clear photocopies of donor’s and all donees’ / replacement donees’ identification documents (and/or)
  • Clear photocopy of Directors’ Resolution of the Licensed Trust Company
    only applicable for Form 2 applicants who wish to appoint at least 1 Licensed Trust Company as a donee /  replacement donee

Contact Us

Got a question? Looking for an LGBTQ+ friendly professional to help you with your legacy planning needs? Drop us a message.