FAQs

You can appoint anyone you trust to manage your personal welfare and/or property & affairs matters if you lose mental capacity. You may appoint up to 2 Donees and 1 Replacement Donee in an LPA Form 1. There is no limit to the number of Donees for LPA Form 2, which must be drafted by a lawyer.

 

The LPA Form 1 application fee is waived for Singapore Citizens until 31 March 2026. For other form and citizenship types, please refer to the LPA fees table. All applicants, regardless of citizenship, are required to pay a professional fee to engage an LPA Certificate Issuer to witness and certify their LPA.

 

The CI signs on the LPA Form as a witness for the Donor, to certify that the Donor understands the purpose of the LPA and the scope of authority granted to Donees.

The CI also ensures that there is no fraud or undue pressure used to induce the Donor to make the LPA.

More information on CIs can be found Click here to read morehere.

There is no requirement for the Donee to be present when the certificate issuer witnesses and certifies on the LPA. However, some certificate issuers may prefer that the Donees are present. Hence, it would be best to check with the certificate issuer beforehand.

Processing the LPA application may take about 8 working days, followed by a mandatory 3-weeks waiting period, before an LPA can be registered. 

 

For hardcopy LPAs, the processing time is 3 weeks on average, followed by the mandatory 3-weeks waiting period before the LPA is registered.

An LPA can only be used by the Donee to transact on the Donor’s behalf when the Donor has been certified by a medical practitioner to have lost mental capacity.

 

Donees should send the electronic copy of the Donor’s registered LPA to third parties via OPGO when transacting on the Donor’s behalf, as it is the most updated copy of the LPA.​ 

Family members or loved ones must apply to Court for a Deputy to be appointed, who can decide and act on behalf of the person who has lost mental capacity. The process is costly and time-consuming.  

The LPA and Will are two separate legal documents. An LPA allows a person (‘Donor’) to appoint one or more Donees to make decisions and act on his behalf if he is still alive but loses mental capacity to make decisions on his own. The LPA will be cancelled upon the death of the Donor.

A Will is to provide for the administration and distribution of what he owns (‘his estate’) among his beneficiaries after his death.

The Public Guardian does not provide legal advice, such as interpreting the sections of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and advising on the powers of the Donees. Members of public are advised to seek legal advice if required. Donees may also refer to the MCA Code of Practice.