Dawn Joughin: Beware risks of online lasting powers of attorney

Increased danger of financial abuse

clock • 4 min read

The FCA has raised the possibility of LPAs being registered completely online but, hand in hand with that, warns Dawn Joughin, comes the potential for high levels of fraud and financial abuse

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...

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