Dawn Joughin: Beware risks of online lasting powers of attorney

The relentless drive to make everything digital can sometimes go too far - and too fast. A good example comes from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and a document its published last month, Occasional Paper 31. This calls for an ‘end-to-end digital system' for lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), which would allow documents to be completed and registered completely online. Online LPAs were first introduced as a service by the government in July 2013, providing an alternative to the long-established paper-based system. More than 2.6 million people have LPAs registered with the Office of...