More than a million lasting power of attorneys were registered in 2023, according to statistics from the Family Court.
The report which looked at data between October and December 2023 found the number of LPAs registered had increased by 37 per cent, marking the first-time registrations have exceeded a million.
The rise in registrations was attributed to the introduction of the online process making it simpler and faster to apply for LPAs combined with an ageing population.
Stacey Love, technical manager of tax, trusts and estate planning at Canada Life, said although setting up and registering an LAP has become more straightforward, she warned even a simple LPA can take 20 weeks to put in place.
“LPAs are incredibly powerful legal documents and are easy to create, while you have the mental capacity to do so. Having an LPA in place allows you to rely on the people you nominate to act in your best interests, when you no longer have the mental capacity to do so for yourself,” she added.
Probate Service
Elsewhere, statistics showed probate grants were issued more quickly than other grants of representation.
According to the Family Court, probate grants took approximately 14 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2023.
The report showed letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 23 and 17 weeks respectively.
The mean time between application submission and grant being issued was the second highest it has been since 2019 which the Family Court said represented work to focus on the oldest cases.
Whilst the mean average time for the majority of grants - digital probate grants for applications not stopped which formed 65 per cent of total probate grants issued- took approximately 10.2 weeks from application to submission to grant issue and was maintained at 7.9 weeks from document receipt to grant issue.
Additionally probate grants that were stopped during October to December 2023 took 23 weeks on average to be issued, compared to 10 weeks for those that were not stopped.
This comes after a survey of its members by Step this year (January 2024) found 100 per cent of respondents have had a case cancelled because of probate delays.
Some 68 per cent of respondents said the key cause for their probate application being delayed was probate registry errors.
While 61 per cent highlighted that applications were delayed further because of a lack of senior staff to review them.
In November 2023, the Justice Committee launched an inquiry into probate amid concerns over delays and consumer protection.
The inquiry is examining people’s experiences of applying for probate including how effectively beneficiaries, executors and the bereaved are supported through the process and protected from rogue traders.
It will also analyse performance data relating to the Probate Registry.
alina.khan@ft.com
