OPG cuts out the paper

The Office of the Public Guardian has made a conscious effort to encourage solicitors to move over to the electronic registration system. Not only is this intended to reduce the time taken to register powers of attorney (“POAs”), but it is an attempt to reduce the volume of paper used in producing hard copies of the registered document.

The OPG’s current policy when registering POAs electronically is to email an electronic copy to the sender whilst a paper copy is issued to the grantor and specified persons. The OPG has reviewed its digital strategy and will be changing its policy regarding sending out paper copies. This means that all copies of registered deeds will be sent out electronically and if no email address is available for the grantor, then only the sender will receive a copy. It will then be the responsibility of the sender to forward on a copy to the grantor.

The OPG has not provided a timeline for the implementation of this new policy, so for now we will have to watch this space.