What are the safeguards in enabling an LPA to be made and registered electronically?
While we have simplified the process of making an LPA electronically, we have retained the following safeguards and in particular, the critical role played by the Certificate Issuer (CI):
There must be an LPA certificate issued by an LPA CI who has assessed that the donor understood the purpose of the LPA and the scope of the authority conferred, that no fraud or undue pressure is on the donor to create an LPA, and that there is no other reason why the LPA should not be created. The CI must be a registered lawyer, medical practitioner accredited by OPG, or psychiatrist.
The Donor must sign the LPA in the presence of a CI.
When the Donor visits the CI, there is a two-step process. The Donor must first give his/her NRIC number to the CI. When the CI enters the NRIC number on OPGO, the system will then send to the donor a system-generated access code unique to the session to his mobile number taken from MyInfo. The Donor must then enter this access code on the CI’s device, to allow the CI to retrieve the Donor’s LPA. Without the Donor’s NRIC number and access code, the CI will not be able to view the LPA.
Donors will digitally sign the LPA and CIs will digitally sign the LPA Certificate, using the National Digital Identity (NDI) credentials. All Donors, Donees and replacement Donees will log in using Singpass. CIs may log in using Singpass or Corppass.
When a Donor makes an LPA electronically, OPG will send instantaneous SMS or email notifications to all parties (Donor, Donee, replacement Donee) during the process. This allows all parties to be kept informed in real-time, so that they can alert OPG if there are any issues. Parties may notify OPG by calling the OPG hotline at 1800 111 2222 or emailing enquiry@publicguardian.gov.sg.
After an LPA is registered, Donee(s) can only share an electronic copy of the LPA with third parties via OPGO, after the Donee has declared that the Donor has lost mental capacity. It will be an offence for a Donee to make a false declaration.
OPGO is also hosted on the Government Commercial Cloud with the appropriate cybersecurity measures.
Note: Airtime charges apply for mobile calls to 1800 service lines.
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