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Objecting to EPA registration

You will be notified by a document called an 'EP1 notice' when the attorney(s) intend to register an 'Enduring power of attorney' (EPA).

Donors

If you are the 'donor', you can object to the registration of your EPA by writing to the Office of Care and Protection (OCP). Your letter should contain the following:

(a) your name and address;

(b) the name and address of the attorney(s); and

(c) the grounds for objecting to the registration of the enduring power.

How to object

The 'EP1 notice' sets out the reasons that you can use to object to the registration of the EPA. These are the only objections you can make when applying to the OCP. You will find these objections under point number 2 on the EP1.

You must notify the OCP of your objection within 4 weeks of the date on which you received the EP1 notice. If you don't notify the OCP, there is a chance that the EPA will be registered even if you apply to the OCP to object.

What happens next?

Once you submit your objections and have written to the OCP, they will suspend the registration of your EPA until the OCP resolves the issue.

Attorneys

Only the attorney(s) named in the EPA can register the document. If the attorney(s) were appointed to act 'jointly' in the EPA, then they must all apply to register it. However, if the attorney(s) were appointed to act 'jointly and severally', only one of them needs to apply.

How to object

The 'EP1 notice' sets out the reasons that you can use to object to the registration of the EPA. These are the only objections you can make when applying to the Office of Care and Protection (OCP). You will find these objections under point number 2 on the EP1.

You must notify the OCP of your objection in writing within 4 weeks of the date on which you received the EP1 notice. If you don't notify the OCP, there is a chance that the EPA will be registered even if you apply to the OCP to object.

Your letter to OCP should contain the following:

(a) your name and address;

(b) the name and address of any other attorney(s);

(c) the name and address of the donor;

(d) any relationship to the donor; and

(c) the grounds for objecting to the registration of the enduring power.

What happens next?

Once you submit your application and write to the OCP, they will suspend the registration of the EPA until the OCP provides further instructions. The OCP will contact you when your application has been issued and will provide you with further instructions.

Other persons entitled to notification

How to object

The 'EP1 notice' sets out the objections that you can use in your application to object to the registration of the EPA. You must also write to the OCP within 4 weeks of the date on which you received the EP1 notice to inform them of your application to the OCP to object to the registration of the EPA. If you don't write to the OCP, there is a risk that the EPA will be registered.

Your letter to OCP should contain the following:

(a) your name and address;

(b) the name and address of the attorney(s);

(c) the name and address of the donor;

(d) any relationship to the donor; and

(c) the grounds for objecting to the registration of the enduring power.

What happens next?

Once you submit your application and write to the OCP, they will suspend registration of the EPA until the OCP resolves the issue. The OCP will contact you when your application has been issued and will provide you with further instructions.

Relative not in receipt of EP1

If you are a relative entitled to notification under The Enduring Powers of Attorney (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, but did not receive the EP1 notice, then you can still object to registration by writing to the OCP if you find out about the application through other means.

All other applications

To begin proceedings

If you are not entitled to notice as a donor, attorney or relative and no one else has begun proceedings, you will need to write to the OCP. You may need to apply for permission to make this application using EP3. Check with the OCP to see if you will need permission.

There is a fee to pay if you use this method. In addition, you may need to pay for any costs you incur during proceedings and, if the court feels that you have acted unreasonably, you may need to pay the costs incurred by the other parties as well.

If you object using this form, you will also have to notify the OCP of your application. If you don't notify the OCP, there is a risk that the EPA may be registered.

Objections you can use

The grounds on which you may object are:

(a) that the power purported to have been created by the instrument is not valid as an enduring power of attorney;

(b) that the power created by the instrument no longer subsists;

(c) that the application is premature because the donor is not yet becoming mentally incapable;

(d) that fraud or undue pressure was used to induce the donor to make the power; or

(e) that the attorney is unsuitable to be the donor's attorney (having regard to all the circumstances and in particular the attorney's relationship to or connection with the donor).

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