An LPA donee’s responsibilities begin only when the donor loses mental capacity. From then on, you must act in the donor’s best interests, stay within the powers the Lasting Power of Attorney gives you, keep their money separate from yours and keep records.
Being named as a donee often starts with a Singpass notification and a parent asking you to accept it. It can feel like a formality. Years later, it may become one of the most demanding roles you take on.
Here is what the job involves, based on the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) own guide for donees.
When Your Role Actually Starts
A donee is appointed under a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) to make decisions for the donor if the donor loses mental capacity. A donee must be at least 21.
Nothing changes on the day the LPA is registered. OPG’s Donee’s Guide is clear that you should not step in while the donor still has capacity. You act when they lose it, and you step aside if they regain it.
When the time comes, you will need to show your authority. To deal with a bank or hospital, a donee first declares that the donor lacks mental capacity, as certified by a medical practitioner, and then sends the registered LPA to that organisation through OPG Online.
Check Which Powers You Were Given
There are two kinds of power, and you may hold one or both. Log in to OPG Online to view the registered LPA and check.
| Personal welfare donee | Property and affairs donee | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples of what you may decide | Where the donor lives and with whom, day-to-day care, social activities, who they have contact with | Operating bank accounts, paying rent, mortgage and household expenses, handling tax, buying or selling property, investing the donor’s money |
| Extra duties | None beyond the general duties | Keep accounts. Keep the donor’s money and property separate from your own |
| Who can hold it | An individual aged at least 21 | An individual, or a licensed trust company |
Also check how you are meant to act if there is more than one donee. “Jointly” means you must decide together. “Jointly and severally” means you can decide together or separately. If the LPA does not say, the law assumes jointly.
What You Cannot Do
A donee’s powers have firm limits. OPG’s guide lists the main ones.
Decisions no one can make for another person. These include consenting to marriage, consenting to divorce on the basis of three years’ separation, consenting to adoption, adopting or renouncing a religion, and making or revoking an Advance Medical Directive.
Wills and nominations. Being a donee does not allow you to make the donor’s will. You cannot make or revoke the donor’s CPF nomination or insurance nomination. Our guide to CPF nominations and wills explains what each of those covers.
Life-sustaining treatment. You cannot decide on life-sustaining treatment, or treatment needed to prevent a serious deterioration in the donor’s condition. Doctors make those decisions in the patient’s best interests. For other treatment, you can give or refuse consent only if the LPA expressly gives you that power.
Gifts. You may not make gifts from the donor’s property unless the LPA specifically authorises it. Where it does and no value is stated, the gifts must not be unreasonable given the size of the estate, and the donor’s property should be preserved for their own maintenance.
The short version: A donee acts only after the donor loses capacity, only within the powers in the LPA, and always in the donor’s best interests. Keep the donor’s money separate from yours, keep records of what you decide and spend, and do not make gifts unless the LPA allows it.
LPA Donee Responsibilities Under the Mental Capacity Act
The guide sets out what every donee must do:
- Follow the Act’s five statutory principles.
- Act in the donor’s best interests.
- Have regard to the Code of Practice.
- Stay within the authority the LPA gives you.
- Act with reasonable care and skill, and in good faith.
- Respect confidentiality.
- Keep records.
And three things you must not do: benefit yourself from your position, pass your authority to someone else, or give up the role without informing the donor and OPG.
The five principles shape everyday decisions:
- Assume the person has capacity unless it is shown otherwise.
- Give all practicable help so they can decide for themselves.
- An unwise decision is not proof of incapacity.
- Anything done for them must be in their best interests.
- Choose the option that is less restrictive of their rights and freedom.
If the donor made an Advance Care Plan, take it into account.
Paying for Care From the Donor’s Money
This is where many donees feel the strain. Care costs arrive monthly, and it is tempting to pay from your own pocket and sort it out later.
If you hold property and affairs powers, paying for the donor’s care, household expenses and bills from the donor’s own accounts is the kind of decision the role is meant for. A few habits make it cleaner:
- Keep the money separate. Pay the donor’s expenses from the donor’s account wherever possible. Do not mix their funds with yours.
- Keep receipts and a simple ledger. Date, amount, what it was for. A notebook or spreadsheet is enough.
- Record big decisions. If you move the donor into a nursing home or sell an asset, note why it was in their best interests and who you consulted.
If you hold only personal welfare powers, you can decide on care but have no authority over the money. Someone else needs property and affairs powers, or the family may have to apply to court for deputyship.
And if the donor has little set aside, authority alone does not pay the bills. This is worth raising while the donor is still well: what care may cost, which accounts would pay for it, and where the statements are kept.
OPG’s guide does not describe a routine report that donees must file, unlike court-appointed deputies, who report to OPG. But the Public Guardian can investigate complaints about how a donee uses their powers. Good records protect you as much as the donor.
Disagreements, and Where to Get Help
If siblings or joint donees disagree, OPG’s guide suggests talking first, with the donor’s best interests as the focus. A second medical or legal opinion can help. So can mediation, which the guide describes as quicker and less stressful than court.
- OPG: call 1800-111-2222 or use the enquiry form on the OPG website.
- The Code of Practice and Donee’s Guide: free on OPG’s guides page.
- Care services and caregiver support: the Agency for Integrated Care and Dementia Singapore.
- Legal advice: a lawyer, or the Legal Aid Bureau if you qualify.
What To Do Next
- Log in to OPG Online and read the registered LPA, so you know which powers you hold and whether you act jointly.
- Talk to the donor now about their wishes: where they want to live, what care they would accept, what matters most to them. Our guide on how to start the family money-and-death talk may help.
- Ask where their accounts, policies and documents are kept.
- Start a simple record book the day you begin acting.
- For decisions involving property sales, large sums or family disagreement, speak to a lawyer.
- If the person who made the LPA wants to change donees, see how to revoke an LPA online.
