The Office of the Public Guardian and the Court of Protection aims to deal with all applications as soon as possible.

However volumes of LPAs and EPAs received for registration continue to be greater than estimates predicted and as such we are experiencing some slight delays in processing. We are working hard on reducing these delays.

In order to help you understand how long your application may take we have set out below our current application timescales. Using the following links you can obtain up to date information on the service the OPG is currently providing if you have made an:

It is important to bear these timescales in mind before chasing your application with the Customer Services Team.

This information was updated on 1st October 2008

Applications to register Lasting Powers of Attorney

  • If we have receive an application to register an LPA and it contains no errors we are currently registering it within 9 weeks and 1 day of receipt, this includes the 6 week statutory waiting period.
  • If we receive an application to register an LPA but it contains errors or omissions we are currently informing the applicant within 2 weeks of receipt of the application.

Lasting Power of Attorney application volumes

Last month the Office of the Public Guardian received 5,755 new applications to register an LPA

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Applications to register Enduring Power of Attorney:

Received within three weeks of the applicant notifying relatives

The statutory waiting period for an EPA begins from the date the applicant notifies relatives.

  • Providing the application contains no errors or omissions and we receive no objections we are currently registering it within 1 week of the end of the statutory waiting period.

Received after three weeks of the applicant notifying relatives

The statutory waiting period for an EPA begins from the date the applicant notifies relatives.

  • Providing the application contains no errors or omissions and we receive no objections we are currently registering it within 3 weeks of receiving the application.

Applications that contain errors or omissions

  • If we receive an application to register an EPA but it contains errors or omissions we are currently informing the applicant within 2 weeks of receipt of the application.

Enduring Power of Attorney application volumes

Last month the Office of the Public Guardian received 1,729 applications to register an EPA.

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