The idea of becoming mentally incapacitated is often so frightful that most people simply avoid the issue. Discounting the various other ways someone can lose control of their mental faculties, in Singapore, 1 in 10 people above 60 will succumb to dementia and 3.6% of people will suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, 1 in 50 people will experience a psychotic episode at some point in their lives, and 1% will suffer from schizophrenia, all conditions that might precipitate the loss of mental faculties. It’s a statistic that we’ve not brought up to alarm you, but simply to help you decide if you have someone in your life you trust to protect your interests, in the realm of your personal welfare, and property and affairs.
You simply have to be above the age of 21, by law in Singapore, to appoint one or more “donees”, who are people you trust “to make decisions on your behalf, in your best interests”. You, as the appointer of your donee(s), are known as the “donor”.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development suggests that it is beneficial to make an LPA as a protective measure against any untoward happenstance as it relates to your mental well-being. It is obviously best to decide what the best permutation for you is while you are capable of making rational decisions on your own behalf. Broadly, your appointed donee(s) will have control over one or both of the following aspects of your life: your personal welfare; and your property and affairs.
The LPA is designed to safeguard your interests, so it grants you the latitude of choice in deciding if: you want a single donee, whose powers are defined in Part IV of the Mental Capacity Act, or multiple donees. In the event that you decide that you would prefer multiple donees, you also have the power to decide if you will allow any one of them to act alone in making a decision on your behalf, or have them come to a consensus on undertaking a decision.
The difference between LPA Form 1 and LPA Form 2 is that LPA Form 2 allows you to appoint more than 2 donees, more than 1 replacement donee, or grant your donee(s) customised powers above the general powers with basic restrictions that donees are granted under LPA Form 1. LPA Form 2 requires the services of a lawyer.
After you have decided what’s best for you, and filling up LPA Form 1, or LPA Form 2, which you can do with the help of a lawyer, there is a “critical safeguard” in place to ensure that the LPA is not made under duress. This means that your LPA form will have to be witnessed and certified by an LPA certificate issuer, which can be:
- an Accredited Medical Practitioner;
- lawyer; or
- registered psychiatrist
As the writer of this article is none of the above, we recommend that you speak to your chosen LPA certificate issuer to fully understand the nuts and bolts of the LPA.
Nobody wishes to have the eventuality of an LPA come to pass, but we hope you will consider that “a stitch in time saves nine”. For Singapore citizens, the LPA Form 1 is free, until 31 August 2020.
Please refer to the MSF’s LPA FAQ for further details.
- Singapore Mental Health Study, 2016.
- Psychosis – Institute of Mental Health. https://www.imh.com.sg/clinical/page.aspx?id=258, accessed 8/6/20
- SA Chong, et al. A Risk Reduction Approach for Schizophrenia: The Early Psychosis Intervention Programme, Annals Academy of Medicine, Sep 2004 Vol 33 No. 5.
- Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash