Urgent enquiries: check if someone has an attorney or deputy
Local authorities, police and NHS staff can find out about the information we have on our registers in England and Wales and how to ask for it.
Applies to England and Wales
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) holds a register of everyone who has:
- a lasting power of attorney (LPA)
- an enduring power of attorney (EPA)
- a deputy acting for them
This can be searched to find the contact details of those involved.
If you are making decisions about an adult at risk or are involved in a safeguarding investigation, you may need information urgently. You can request the search using the details below.
Please note: OPG will not act specifically on the results of your search. If after receiving them you need to take action, you can raise a concern with our Safeguarding team. We will send you information on how to do that with the results of the search.
Request information to help with your urgent enquiries
Please email OPGurgent@publicguardian.gov.uk using the email template below. Please include:
- the subject line ‘Initial safeguarding enquiry’ or ‘Urgent enquiries’ as needed
- the template at the bottom of the page, containing the individual’s details
- your email signature including your job title and team name
It must be sent from an accredited email address. These are the kind used by the NHS, police and local authorities (e.g. @nhs.uk, @ pnn.police.uk, @gov.uk).
Requests under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 or Section 126 of the Social Services and Well Being (Wales) Act (safeguarding enquiries) can be made using this search by local authorities.
Requests that are not for safeguarding enquiries must use the OPG100 form.
Requests that are about COVID-19 patients should use the dedicated search.
If possible, please don’t send your request using encrypted email software such as Egress. This slows down the search process and you may not get your results as quickly. Our gov.uk email address is secure.
We aim to respond to requests within 24 hours, Monday to Friday. Requests made over the weekend will be dealt with on Monday as a priority.
The information you will receive
You will be told whether there is an LPA, EPA or deputyship court order in place. If there is, you will be told:
- if it is for health and welfare (some relate only to property and finances)
- the date it was registered (LPA or EPA) or the date of the court order
- names and contact details of attorneys or deputies
- if there are restrictions on the powers of the attorney or the court order
- if an attorney has authority over life-sustaining treatment for the donor
- how the attorneys or deputies are appointed to act, where there is more than one
- if the LPA, EPA or deputyship has been registered, cancelled, revoked or expired
- the expiry date of any court order
Enduring power of attorney searches
These may take longer as the documents have not been stored digitally.
Email template
Dear OPG
I am requesting a search of the OPG registers to help safeguard an adult at risk. I cannot get the information from the individual as they do not have mental capacity.
Please search the OPG registers for any information about this person:
Name:
Date of Birth:
Address:
Last updated 10 June 2021 + show all updates
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Adding reference to the Social Services and Well Being (Wales) Act
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Adding the Welsh translation of scenarios of when the search should and should not be used by local authorities
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Change of text to clarify scenarios of when the search should and should not be used by local authorities
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Amending 'I require this information to help with an urgent issue concerning the person named above.' to 'The information will help safeguard an adult at risk.'
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Amending EPA information from 'only relating to financial information' to 'not stored digitally'
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Added translation