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Who Would Speak for You If You Couldn’t Speak for Yourself?
It’s one of those conversations many families put off. If something happened and you could no longer make decisions for yourself, who would you trust to make them for you?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) allows you to answer that question while you still can. Yet recent reporting from The Telegraph suggests the system responsible for overseeing these arrangements is under significant pressure.
Applications to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) have risen from fewer than 700,000 in 2020–21 to close to 1.6 million today.
That tells us something important: more people are thinking about what happens if illness, dementia, an accident or increasing frailty leaves them unable to manage their own affairs. But increased demand is creating problems.
According to The Telegraph, concerns reported to the OPG rose by 17 per cent in the past year to 13,183. Investigations are taking an average of 198 days to complete, compared with a target of 70 days.
Lawyers have also raised concerns about cases involving suspected abuse taking considerable time to resolve.
Most attorneys take their responsibilities seriously. But sadly, abuse can happen.
The Telegraph reported on one particularly distressing case involving a couple who abused powers of attorney over the husband’s parents. They sold assets and transferred money from the parents’ bank account, ultimately leaving just 28p. Both were jailed.
Stories like this shouldn't frighten us away from making an LPA. They should remind us how important it is to choose our attorneys carefully.
And perhaps, more importantly, to have the conversation early. Who knows what matters to you? Who understands your wishes?Who would you trust with your money, your home, your care and potentially some of the most personal decisions of your life?These conversations are much easier when they happen around a kitchen table while everyone is well, rather than during a crisis in a hospital or care home.
Planning ahead isn't about assuming the worst will happen. It's about making sure that, if life changes unexpectedly, the people you trust already know what matters to you and have the authority to act.
Source: The Telegraph, reporting by Harry Brennan and Ben Butcher, 24 September 2026.
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