ROYAL COURT OF JERSEY
RC22/02
THE CAPACITY AND SELF-DETERMINATION (JERSEY)
LAW 2016
Registrations
IN THE PUBLIC REGISTRY when an attorney has used their power to transact under
a LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY
Introduction
1.
The Capacity and
Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016 (“the Law”) permits Lasting
Powers of Attorney (an “LPA”) to be registered by which a person over eighteen
who has capacity (the “donor”) grants authority to another (the “attorney”) to
deal with their property and affairs, including authority to make decisions in
circumstances where that individual lacks capacity to do so.
2.
If the
donor is so inclined the donor can grant within the LPA, authority to their
attorney to transact on their immovable property, if such transaction is in the
best interests of the donor.
3.
Where
the donor has not given their attorney(s) authority to transact on their
immovable property but where the attorney believes that there is a need, and
that it is in the best interests of the donor that the transaction takes place,
then the attorney(s) must bring an application to Court seeking its permission
to transact on the property.
4.
The
Law provides for a format for execution of an LPA. Articles 1 and 2 of Part 1 of the Schedule to
the Law sets out the form and execution of LPA and Article 3 of the Capacity
& Self-Determination (Miscellaneous Provisions and Prescribed Fees and
Forms) (Jersey) Order 2018 clarifies those persons who may witness
execution of LPA.
5.
The
professional witness prescribed as able to witness the donor’s execution of the
LPA must attest that in their opinion – “(a)
at the time of the donor’s execution of the instrument, the donor understands
the purpose of the LPA and the scope of authority it confers; (b) no fraud or
undue pressure is being used to induce the donor to confer such authority or
execute the LPA; and (c) there is nothing else which would prevent a valid
power from being conferred in the case.”
6.
The
Law also provides that the Lasting Power of Attorney is not created
and no power may be validly exercised thereunder until the LPA is registered
with the Judicial Greffe.
7.
Article
3 of the Powers of Attorney (Jersey) Law 1995 provides that LPAs are not
Registerable Powers of Attorney.
8.
To enable conveyancers to
verify the provenance of a property, it is desirous that property transactions
should be a matter of record and be searchable within the Public Registry.
9.
This practice direction
details the protocol that shall apply to record those transactions in the
Public Registry where an attorney appointed pursuant to an LPA has used their
authority to transact on a property.
The Protocol
10.
That in any transaction
where a party is to be represented by means of an LPA, the relevant party shall
be obliged to notify the counterparty(s) no later than ten days in advance of
scheduled completion.
11.
That upon giving that
notification, having in advance obtained the consent of the donor or attorney
as the case may be, the party(s) seeking to use the LPA will submit a copy of
the registered LPA to the other side(s).
NOTE:
If
the attorney cannot evidence their authority to act, by providing the law firm
with the original registered LPA or a certified true copy thereof, then they (the
attorney) can request that the Probate & Protection Registry prepare a
certified true copy for a nominal fee.
12.
Should the law firm
wish to confirm at an early stage that the LPA can be relied upon then it can
seek such confirmation by emailing the Protection Division of the Judicial
Greffe (jgrprotection@courts.je);
copying in the attorney(s) appointed pursuant to the LPA and attaching a copy
of the LPA previously provided to the law firm.
13.
That the party(s)
seeking to rely on the LPA shall further submit the registered LPA (or
certified copy thereof) to the Protection Division of the Judicial Greffe
together with a covering letter:
(i)
confirming, where a
copy LPA is enclosed, that the enclosed LPA is a true copy of the original
registered LPA;
(ii)
advising that the LPA
is to be utilised by the attorney(s) for a specific property transaction to be
passed before the Royal Court on behalf of the donor;
(iii)
setting out the name,
and where appropriate the UPRN, of the property to which the transaction relates;
(iv)
confirming the proposed
date for completion;
(v)
requesting an officer
in the Protection Division of the Judicial Greffe to confirm that the original
registration as presented has not been revoked and continues to be a valid LPA
(see Schedule 1).
NOTE: This letter, together with the applicable
registration fee, must be received by the Protection Division as early as
practicable ahead of the Court date but, in any event, no later than 5pm on the
Wednesday immediately preceding the date the transaction is to be passed before
Court;
14.
Upon receipt of the
letter referred to in paragraph 13 above, an officer of the Protection Division
of the Judicial Greffe will inspect the Register of Lasting Powers of Attorney
and will reply to the law firm confirming that:
(i)
the LPA as presented
has not been revoked and the LPA, and the authority granted pursuant to it, is
valid; and
(ii)
at the time of
registering the LPA the donor chose to give authority to [attorney(s) name] to
transact on their real property.
15.
The above confirmation
will be sent by an officer of the Protection Division of the Judicial Greffe to
the law firm no later than 10.00am on the morning of Court, so that the
conveyancer has certainty regarding the attorney(s) authority to act ahead of
Court.
16.
Following Court, the
law firm’s letter to the Protection Division of the Judicial Greffe (see 13
above) and the Judicial Greffe’s response (see 14
above) (together the “Registered Communications”) will be stamped and registered
in the LPA book on PRIDE by the Public Registry.
17.
Once registered on
PRIDE, the Registered Communications will be returned to the law firm for their
filing.
18.
The registration fee
required to register the said Registered Communications on PRIDE will be £65,
as varied from time to time.
19.
A separate application
will be required on each occasion the LPA is to be used for any property
transaction to: (1) be satisfied that the LPA has not been revoked and is still
valid; and (2) so the relevant transaction can be recorded on PRIDE per 13 and 14
above.
This practice direction is effective
immediately.
8 November 2022
SCHEDULE 1
DRAFT LETTER OF SETTING OUT
THE BASIS OF A FREEHOLD TRANSACTION WHERE AN ATTORNEY APPOINTED PURSUANT TO AN
LPA IS A PARTY
[Date]
The
Protection Division
Judicial
Greffe
Royal
Court House
Royal
Square
St
Helier
Jersey
JE1
1JG
Dear
Sirs
Our client: [Donor of LPA]
We enclose
a copy of the registered Lasting Power of Attorney for Property & Affairs
registered with the Judicial Greffe on [date]
We hereby confirm:
1
The documents enclosed
herewith are true copies of the originals which we have seen.
2
It is proposed that the
LPA be used by [name of attorney] [as attorney for/one of the attorneys for]
[name of donor] for the purposes of the [purchase/sale/nature of transaction]
in relation to [short form address].
3
The full address of the
property to which the transaction relates is [full address] [post code], UPRN [uprn no].
4
That it is presently
proposed that the transaction be passed before the Royal Court on the
[completion date].
We would ask that you confirm that the
registered LPA, enclosed, has not been revoked and continues to be valid.
Yours
faithfully
per
pro
SCHEDULE 2
The Judicial
Greffe’s reply/confirmation
[On
Judicial Greffe letterhead]
[DATE]
[Addressee]
[Law
firm’s address]
Dear [Addressee]
Your
client: [Donor of LPA] and the Capacity & Self-Determination (Jersey) Law
2016
We
hereby confirm that the lasting power of attorney for property and affairs
(LPA) for [name of donor] of [donor’s address] registered by the Judicial
Greffe on [date], a copy of which you enclosed under cover of your letter dated
[date] (attached) has not been revoked and is still valid in all respects.
We
further confirm that, pursuant to the aforesaid LPA, [name of attorney(s)] was/were
granted authority by [donor’s name] to transact on their real property.
Yours sincerely
Greffier
Substitute