General #
Mental Capacity Act, s 15 provides that the donor has the power to revoke the LPA if he or she has the mental capacity to do so. The donor has to complete the revocation form and submit the completed form to the Office of the Public Guardian.
You will need to follow the procedures prescribed, generally:
- Sign a Revocation Form as prescribed by Office of Public Guardian
- Notify every Donee of the Revocation
- Notify the Public Guardian of the revocation
- You may also wish to give notice of the revocation to any person that you have previously informed about the LPA (eg. your bank or other financial institution, CPF Board, etc).
Revocation Form #
There are three parts to the revocation form of the LPA.
Part A is for the donor to fill in, and it involves him or her expressly stating that he or she is revoking the LPA and every power and authority conferred by it. A witness is also required to sign the form and state that at the time the revocation was made, the donor appeared to understand that he or she is terminating the appointment of the donee(s) and the donee(s) will not have the power to act for the donor in the event that the donor loses capacity. Where an interpreter is required, the personal details of the interpreter should also be given and the interpreter will need to state the language or dialect in which he or she had interpreted the revocation to the donor.
Part B is for the donee(s) to fill in, and the purpose of Part B is so that the donor obtains a written acknowledgement of the notice of revocation of the LPA. Out of prudence, every donee listed in the LPA should fill in and sign this part, including any replacement donee. In this regard, it would be prudent to record the specific steps and efforts that had been undertaken to locate and/or contact the donee as well as the response received. Part B is crucial because if the donor fails to notify every donee that he or she is revoking the LPA, the donee may continue to make decisions on the donor’s behalf in the event that he or she loses capacity.
Apart from the donee, the donor must also notify the Office of Public Guardian of the revocation. Hence, Part C is a written notice of revocation from the donor to the Office of Public Guardian. As with Part A, a witness is required to sign on Part C to ensure that at the time the revocation was made, the donor appeared to have understand that he or she is terminating the appointment of the donee(s) and the donee(s) will not have the power to act for the donor in the event that the donor loses capacity.
The duly completed and signed revocation form should be submitted to the Office of Public Guardian together with the original LPA that had been issued and a fee of S$25, being the cancellation fee.
What You Must Do #
Sign the Revocation Form. You may download the form from OPG Forms and complete it and sign, and follow the instructions accordingly.
Notify Every Donee #
- This is a requirement of the Mental Capacity Regulations (S105/2010)
- Unless the Donee has notice of the revocation, he may be protected if he acts under the LPA when the Donor loses capacity
Notify the Public Guardian #
- This is a requirement of the Mental Capacity Regulations (S105/2010)
- Submit in person to the Office of the Public Guardian
(a) the completed revocation form
(b) the cancellation fee ($25.00) and
(c) the following items for cancellation –
> the original LPA; and
> any office copy.
What Public Guardian will Do? #
- The Public Guardian will cancel the registration of the LPA if he is satisfied that the donor has taken the necessary steps to revoke the LPA. The Public Guardian may require the donor to provide further information or produce such documents as the Public Guardian considers necessary.
- The Public Guardian will give notice of the cancellation of the registration to the donor and each donee.
- The LPA Reference Number of the revoked LPA will be uploaded on the List of Revoked LPAs on OPG’s website.
[Source: Office of Public Guardian, Singapore and others]
