06/07/2021
Hear! Hear! It’s our honour and pleasure to engage in such a meaningful collaboration! Thanks Patrick Tay 郑德源 for raising the much needed public awareness on the importance of having a Will and a Lasting Power of Attorney!
Joined in the debate and spoke on the Bill which seeks to amend the Mental Capacity Act today in Parliament. For the information and benefit of our Pioneer SMC residents, I mentioned in my speech the special package (valid till 31 Dec 2021) which we have come up with last year to do up your Lasting Powers of Attorney and a Simple Will under our LE@P initiative with Invictus Law Corporation Invictus Legacy Centre.
Link to CNA Video : https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/parliament/videos/july/patrick-tay-on-mental-capacity-amendment-bill-15159070
Valerie Lee Victor Yeo Lim Dylan Josephus Tan
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Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise in support of this Bill, which seeks to enable the digitalisation of the Lasting Powers of Attorney (“LPAs”), filing of deputyship reports, as well as enhance the protection of donors and persons who lack mental capacity.
The LPA is a legal instrument which allows a person (the “Donor”) to voluntarily appoint one or more persons (the “Donee(s)”) to make decisions and act on his behalf when he loses mental capacity one day.
There are three (3) key steps under the existing process:-
(a)First, the Donor must choose someone he/she trusts to make decisions and decide on the decision powers to accord to the Donee. If there is more than one Donee, the Donor must also decide whether the Donees are to act jointly, or jointly and severally.
(b)Second, the Donor must attend before a Certificate Issuer (i.e. a doctor, lawyer or psychiatrist) with the LPA, who will then sign and certify that the Donor has mental capacity to make an LPA. This is a crucial safeguard in ensuring that the Donor is aware of the legal implications and has not been under duress or undue pressure in the creation of the LPA.
(c)Third, the Donor must submit the LPA and all relevant documents to the Office of the Public Guardian (the “OPG”) by post. The OPG will then verify the documents and proceed to register the LPA if there are no valid objections.
We are living in an era where almost anything and everything is digitalised. It also means things are done even faster, smarter, easier, and safer (especially with a low touch economy). Accordingly, the proposed amendments which seek to establish an electronic transaction system for persons to create an LPA or carry out their transactions with the Office of Public Guardian digitally, is a timely and laudable move.
Even as the majority of Singapore rides the rapid waves of change in the digital sphere and we are moving forward in this space, I wish to highlight three concerns which I hope to see addressed we embark on this set of amendments.
1) Expanding Outreach and Communications
My wife and I did up our LPA earlier this year and the process requires form filling and signaling and reading some fine print. My first concern is with the seniors amongst us and whether the electronic process will be a boon or a bane to them as there are many who may not be electronically savvy and comfortable with the e-processes and may result in us losing out this group which are precisely the ones who need to make their LPAs most urgently in case they lose their mental faculties with the passing of time and age. The question we need to address is how the electronic process will help or encourage seniors to do up the LPA? Will the system be multi-lingual as well and void of legalese?
I understand that the Office of Public Guardian has plans to work with the People’s Association, the Infocomm Media Development Authority and other organisations to train and assist elderly persons. This is a step in the right direction to evangelise the importance of doing up a LPA. In addition, the Office of Public Guardian can also partner with NTUC and the Labour Movement as well as our union leaders to enhance the outreach to workers and union members. For a start, perhaps a special campaign can be embarked on to get all our union leaders to do up a LPA at a subsidised rate so that they can lead the way to encourage those they interact and engage with at their respective companies to do likewise.
2) Extending Support at the Local Level and the Needy
Over in my Pioneer constituency, my community volunteer team and I had also organised and conducted a FB live webinar in October last year on “Wills, Estate Planning and LPA Matters”, to educate our residents on this important topic. We collaborated with Invictus Legacy centre to extend a very economical and affordable package to all Pioneer residents when they do up both an LPA and a simple Will till the end of this year. This was well-received by my residents, and many of them shared that this was a useful and practical initiative. As of earlier this year, I know more than 300 residents have done up their LPA in response to this special package and service for our Pioneer residents.
I also recalled doing a similar drive during my last term in Boon Lay constituency where we also extended a special package to the many needy and low-income residents there staying in rental flats. I suggest that OPG can work with the community and come up with a similar support scheme to assist low income and needy residents to do up their LPA. Besides waiver of the registration fee, support can come in the form of waiving or subsidising the certificate issuer charges. There can also be proper benchmarks as there is a spectrum of charges imposed by certificate issuers depending on whether it is done through a lawyer, doctor or psychiatrist etc.
3)Deputyship
Third, I am concerned for those who do not make their LPAs before losing mental capacity, and their families and loved ones must now apply for deputyship with the Courts, which is a costly, time-consuming and cumbersome process. Would MSF be making any further changes to simplify the existing procedure, which would save time and costs for all? (I note that there is a simplified application process for restricted use of monies of S$60,000 and below for certain categories of applications).
Second, the amendments propose to allow the Public Guardian, in case of suspected fraud, to disclose to a donor that his prospective donee is already a donee to multiple donors. Does this disclosure obligation apply across the board? Or would there be certain exemptions – for instance, where the appointed donee is either a next-of-kin, close relative, or friend of the multiple donors? Also, if the authorities suspect that fraud has been perpetrated, what will happen to all LPAs registered after the amendments have been passed?
Sir, clarifications and concerns notwithstanding, I stand in support of this Bill.
