It is quite a common phenomenon to have people amongst us who do not possess the capacity to make decisions on their own. There are others who worry that on some day in the future of their lives they'd loose the mental capacity to do just that. Both these categories of people may subject to abuse, especially regarding the ownership of their movable and immovable assets. In order to protect their rights just as any other citizen, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) was established with jurisdiction over entire England and Wales. The   OPG was established in October, 2007 under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 

The OPG through the Public Guardian is entrusted with the tasks of registering Lasting and Enduring Powers of Attorney and exercising vigilance over the Deputies appointed by the Court of Protection to carry out the duties of protecting the interests of the .the people who come under the ambit of the OPG.

The Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is a legal instrument that empowers any person aged 18 or over to be vested with legal authority to make decisions regarding financial or property matters on behalf of another. Once an EPA continues to be in power from the date it is invoked irrespective of the possibility of the party on whose behalf the decision is made becoming mentally unsound on a future date. Cancelling an EPA is only possible with the permission of the Court of Protection. 

Under the above mentioned Mental Capacity Act, the instrument of EPA has been replaced by another instrument called the Lasting Power of Attorney. With this change taking effect from 1^st October, 2007, making a new EPA or affecting changes to an existing one is no longer possible after this date.  However, if there is any EPA that was made prior to this date and remaining unregistered, it is still possible to register it if there were grounds for the OPG to believe that the person or persons on whose behalf the EPA is made could become mentally incapable on a future date. 

For the easiness of registering an EPA the necessary forms could be downloaded from OPA's website in the form of a registration pack. It contains Form EP1PG which is the ‘Notice to Apply for the Registration of an EPA'; form EP2PG which is the application and form OPG506A, the application for fee exemption or remission. These forms come with complete guidance booklets on the procedure of registration.