Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in Singapore

A Lasting Power of Attorney, or LPA, is a document that lets you choose in advance who will make decisions on your behalf if you ever lose the mental capacity to make them yourself. The person making the LPA is the donor, and the people appointed are the donees. It is one of the most important planning documents an adult in Singapore can make, and it is deliberately inexpensive to encourage take-up.

The LPA is created under the Mental Capacity Act 2008 and administered by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). This guide explains what an LPA can do, the two forms, the current fees, and the electronic LPA issue that made headlines in 2024.

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate and solicitor about your situation.

What an LPA does

An LPA lets the donor confer authority on one or more donees to make decisions in two areas, either or both of which can be chosen (section 11 of the Mental Capacity Act 2008):

• Personal welfare, such as where the donor lives and consent to medical treatment.
• Property and affairs, such as operating bank accounts, paying bills and dealing with property.

The authority only takes effect once the donor no longer has the mental capacity to make the decision in question. Until then the donor remains fully in charge of their own affairs. A donee must always act in the donor's best interests, the standard that runs through the Mental Capacity Act.

You can appoint more than one donee and specify whether they must act jointly (all together) or jointly and severally (together or independently). You can also name a replacement donee to step in if your first choice cannot act.

You must have capacity to make one

An LPA can only be made while the donor still has mental capacity. This is the single most important point about timing. Once a person has lost capacity, for example through advanced dementia, a stroke or a serious accident, it is too late to make an LPA and the family's only route is a court-appointed deputyship, which is slower, costlier and supervised by the court.

Making an LPA early, while you are well, is therefore the entire point of the document. It is not a step for the elderly alone.

The certificate issuer

Before an LPA can be registered, a certificate issuer must certify that the donor understands the LPA and is not being pressured into making it. A certificate issuer is an accredited professional, either a medical practitioner accredited by the OPG, a practising lawyer, or a registered psychiatrist. They are independent of the OPG and charge their own fee, which is separate from the government application fee.

The two forms

There are two versions of the LPA, and choosing the right one matters.

Most people need only Form 1. Form 2 is for those who want to grant powers beyond the standard template, and the requirement that a lawyer draft it adds cost.

What an LPA costs in 2026

The OPG application fee depends on the form and the applicant's status. As of 2026:

Cancelling an LPA registration costs S$28. Two points are easy to get wrong. First, Form 2 is not free for citizens: only Form 1 is. Second, the fee is not refunded once the application has been submitted to the OPG, even if the application is later rejected, so it is worth getting the document right before filing.

The free Form 1 processing for Singapore Citizens applies from 1 April 2026, and reduced fees for other applicants apply from 1 May 2026. The certificate issuer's fee is charged separately and is not covered by these government fees.

How the LPA is made and registered

Since November 2022, most LPAs are made online through the OPG's Online Portal using Singpass, with details pre-filled from Myinfo. In outline the process is: the donor completes the LPA and names the donees, a certificate issuer certifies it, and the application is submitted to the OPG for registration.

There is a mandatory waiting period before registration, during which the OPG notifies the parties so that any objection can be raised. The document only becomes a registered, usable LPA at the end of that process. The OPG, not a court, maintains the register of LPAs.

The 2024 electronic LPA issue, explained

In 2024 the OPG identified a technical drafting gap in electronic LPAs. Under section 12A of the Mental Capacity Act, an electronic LPA must state clearly on its face that the donor intends it to be a deed. Electronic LPAs certified between 14 November 2022 and 4 January 2024 did not carry that express statement.

The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2024, passed as Act 15 of 2024 and in force from 4 May 2024, validated those LPAs retroactively. Around 87,000 electronic LPAs were affected. Electronic LPAs certified on or after 5 January 2024 already include the required statement.

The key point for donors is reassurance: if your electronic LPA fell in that window, it has been validated by law and you do not need to redo it or take any action. It was a formalities gap in the online form, not a problem with the substance of the LPAs themselves.

Choosing your donees

The choice of donee is the most important decision in the whole document, because that person may one day control your finances and your welfare. Choose someone you trust completely, who is willing to take on the role, and who understands your wishes.

Many donors appoint more than one person, or name a replacement donee, so that the LPA still works if the first choice is unable or unwilling to act when the time comes. If you appoint two or more donees, think about whether they should act jointly, meaning every decision needs all of them, or jointly and severally, meaning each can act alone. Requiring donees to act jointly is safer but less flexible if one of them is abroad or unavailable.

What an LPA cannot do

An LPA is powerful, but it is not unlimited. A donee must always act in the donor's best interests, the standard that runs through the Mental Capacity Act, and cannot use the LPA to benefit themselves at the donor's expense. The powers to make gifts from the donor's money are restricted.

An LPA also does not reach certain things at all. A donee cannot make or change the donor's will, and cannot make a CPF nomination on the donor's behalf. Most importantly, an LPA has no effect after death: the donee's authority ends the moment the donor dies, and from that point the estate passes under the will or the intestacy rules.

Changing or revoking your LPA

An LPA is not fixed for life. While you still have mental capacity you can revoke it and, if you wish, make a fresh one, for example after a divorce, a falling-out with a donee, or simply a change of mind about who should act. Cancelling a registered LPA carries a fee of S$28.

Because an LPA can only be made or changed while you have capacity, it is worth reviewing it from time to time, especially after a major life event, rather than filing it away and forgetting about it.

LPA compared with a will and CPF

An LPA is only about decisions made while you are alive but have lost capacity. It has nothing to do with what happens to your assets after death, which is decided by your will or, if you leave none, by the intestacy rules. A donee's authority ends on the donor's death.

Your CPF savings are a separate matter again. They are dealt with by CPF nomination, not by an LPA and not by a will.

This guide is part of the wills, estates and power of attorney in Singapore section, which links the related guides on planning ahead and settling an estate.