Fix Enduring Powers of Attorney

Prior to April 2023 an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) only needed to be registered in the event that the person who created it subsequently lost mental capacity.  Approximately 1,200 EPAs were registered each year up to 2022.  

It is estimated that only 15% of EPAs created under that old system subsequently required to be registered, which would mean that approximately 8,000 EPAs would have had to have been created each year to produce the figure of 1,200 registered, or 670 a month.

In April 2023 the Decision Support Service (DSS) was established and the system for creation of EPAs was radically changed.  It was expected this new system would enable wider uptake of EPAs by the public and ensure greater protection of vulnerable people as they age. 

However, as of 28 February 2024, it was stated in answer to a parliamentary question that only 697 EPA applications had been submitted to the DSS for registration in its first ten months of operation, roughly what would have been created in one month under the old system. In other words 10 times less than before. 

 The new system intended  to increase the number of people with EPAs has resulted in a collapse in the numbers being created  in contrast with the old system which worked very well. 

The problem is an online platform  imposed on the creation of EPAs  by the DSS which does not enable a professional adviser to access the platform on behalf of anyone wishing to have their assistance with the creation of the documentation to ensure that it is done correctly.

Anyone wishing to have professional assistance in the creation of an EPA via a digital platform should be facilitated in doing so and is entitled to have their professional adviser access the system on their behalf  to advise and assist in preparing what can be complicated and profoundly important documents with serious legal consequences.

Revenue’s online ROS system allows a tax adviser to prepare and file returns for a taxpayer. The Injuries Resolution Board’s web-portal allows an agent to prepare an injury claim on behalf of a claimant. The Land Registry, the Companies Registration Office and others all do likewise. 

The DSS platform does not and that needs to be fixed urgently  to allow people who want help from their professional advisers in creating an EPA to get it by providing professional advisers with access to the new online platform on behalf of anyone wishing to have their assistance.

This is a change required to fix the system for creation of EPAs that can and should be made immediately to end this crisis in the creation of  EPAs which is causing serious problems for vulnerable people who need to have them in place.

We are signing this petition to ask the Minister for State to fix this problem as soon as possible.