I have a registered EPA

Changing an enduring power of attorney

You can change your registered enduring power of attorney (EPA) if 

• it has not come into effect
• you have capacity to do so
• and it has been registered with us for more than six months. 

After that, you can change it once every year. 

If you need to make changes to your EPA earlier than these timelines allow, this can be done by agreement with the DSS. Please contact us if you need to do this.

Any changes to the EPA must be made in writing and signed by you and two witnesses. Changing your EPA is called 'varying' the arrangement.

Changing an EPA takes a number of steps. This includes getting forms completed by various people. You may need a person you trust to help you to complete these steps.

The easiest way to change your EPA is through our online portal MyDSS. If you already have an account with us, you can log in to your account and start a new variation application. You can also start the process by viewing your registered arrangement and selecting the relevant option.

The forms you will need to change your EPA are on the MyDSS portal.

If you do not have an account with us, that is no problem. You can contact us, and we will help you set up your account, or find an option that meets your needs.

Step by step - changing an enduring power of attorney

You must take the following steps to change your EPA:

1.  Fill out the enduring power of attorney variation application form
2. Visit your legal professional, who will interview you to ensure you understand the implications of changing your enduring power of  attorney
3. Sign a declaration with your attorney in front of two witnesses
4. Pay the variation fee
5. Submit the variation application to the Decision Support Service

The steps you need to take to change an EPA are very similar to the steps for making an EPA, except you do not have to provide a capacity statement from a healthcare professional. Also you do not need to inform people (give notice) that you are changing the EPA.

We will review your application to change the EPA and make sure it meets the legal requirements. We may need to ask you for more information as part of this review.

Cancelling an enduring power of attorney

You can cancel your registered enduring power of attorney (EPA) if it has not been brought into effect and you have capacity to do so. The EPA must be cancelled in writing and signed by you and two witnesses. Cancelling your EPA is called 'revoking' the arrangement.

An attorney can resign from a registered arrangement before it comes into effect by informing us, and you, that they wish to do so. 

If the EPA has been brought into effect, the attorney can only resign with the consent of the court.

Cancelling an EPA takes a number of steps. This includes getting forms completed by various people, including your legal professional. You may need a person you trust to help you to complete these steps.

We will give you the forms you will need to cancel your EPA. We can also give you information about making a new EPA, or a different type of arrangement.

The easiest way to cancel your EPA is through our online portal MyDSS. If you already have an account with us, you can log in to your account and start a new revocation (cancellation) application. You can also start the process by viewing your registered arrangement and selecting the relevant option.

If you do not have an account with us, that is not a problem. You can contact us, and we will help you set up an account, or discuss the best option for you.

Step by step - cancelling an enduring power of attorney 

You must take the following steps to cancel your EPA:

1. Fill out the EPA revocation application form
2. Visit your legal professional, who will interview you to ensure you understand the implications of revoking your EPA
3. Sign a declaration in front of two witnesses
4. Inform certain people (give notice), including your attorney(s) that you are cancelling the EPA
5. Inform us (the Decision Support Service)

We will review your application to cancel the EPA and make sure it meets the legal requirements. We may need to ask you for more information as part of this review.

Other reasons your EPA may end

Your EPA will also end in the following situations:

• If you regain capacity to make decisions included in your EPA. In this case, you can apply to rescind the EPA, which means it would no longer be effective
• If your attorney is unwilling, unable or otherwise prevented from continuing in their role and you have no other attorneys remaining
• At the time of your death

Notifying an enduring power of attorney

If a person loses capacity to make certain decisions, the attorney(s) must ‘notify’ it to us to activate the enduring power of attorney (EPA). ‘Notifying’ is the process we use to activate an EPA and bring it into effect. 

An EPA must already be registered with us before it can be notified. 

Notifying an EPA takes a number of steps. This includes getting forms completed by various people, including statements from two healthcare professionals confirming that the donor lacks capacity to make one or more of the decisions included in the EPA.

The notification fee of €90 must also be paid.

An attorney appointed in the EPA can apply to notify it through our online portal MyDSS. You can begin this process by logging into MyDSS, viewing the registered arrangement and selecting the option to start the notification application.

Steps for notifying an enduring power of attorney

If you believe the donor now lacks capacity to make one or more of the decisions contained in the EPA, you - as the attorney - must take the following steps to notify (or activate) the EPA:

1. Log into your account on MyDSS

You will already have a MyDSS account that you set up as part of registering the EPA, and you will also have verified your identity with us.

To start your notification application, log in to your MyDSS account and click ‘Arrangements’. Select the arrangement you wish to notify and begin the notification application.

You can find detailed instructions and watch a video on how to notify an EPA at the link How to notify an enduring power of attorney on the MyDSS Portal.

2. Fill out the EPA notification application form 

The first part of the application will ask two questions, which you must answer before starting the application:

• The date you first had reason to believe the donor lacked capacity to make the decisions listed in the EPA
• Whether there are any urgent actions you need to take while the application is in progress

When you have answered these questions, review the details that were entered originally on the EPA application to ensure all information is correct.

3. Download forms  

After you have reviewed the form and are happy with the information included, you can download the following forms:

• Statement regarding donor capacity: this is the form that a healthcare professional fills in after they have assessed the donor’s capacity. You must have statements regarding the donor’s capacity completed by two different healthcare professionals. 
   
• Notice form: this is the form you give to the donor and their notice parties to let them know that you are notifying the EPA. You can download this form as many times as you need to, depending on how many notice parties you have.

4. Complete the statements regarding the donor’s capacity 

You must ask two healthcare professionals to assess the donor to confirm whether they lack capacity to make one or more decisions listed in the EPA.

The classes of healthcare professionals are: 

• medical partitioner
• occupational therapists
• registered midwives
• registered nurses
• social workers
• speech and language therapists

Such healthcare professionals must fulfil the requirement of professional registration as set out in the regulations

You must give the person completing the assessment a copy of the registered EPA. After the doctor or healthcare professional has assessed the donor’s capacity, they will complete the Statement of Capacity Form.

5. Tell the donor and their notice parties about the application to notify the EPA

You must tell the following people that you are making an application to notify the EPA:

• The donor
• All attorney(s) (and replacement attorney(s) if any) appointed in the donor’s EPA application
• The donor’s spouse, civil partner, or co-habitant (if any)
• Any of the donor’s children who are 18 years or over (if any)
• Any decision-making assistant, co-decision-maker, decision-making representative, designated healthcare representative, or any other attorney for the donor, including an attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act 1996 (if any)
• Anyone originally given notice during registration of the EPA

These people are called notice parties. You must give them notice at the same time you submit your application to the Decision Support Service. You must give the notice form, along with a copy of the EPA- to each one of the notice parties. 

6. Upload completed forms 

After you have completed all of the required forms you can upload the forms to MyDSS. You need to click ‘Save’ and ‘Next’ on step 3 of the application form: ‘Witness details’.

Note: No information is needed in this step, but you must click ‘Save’ to progress to step 4.

You will need to enter the notice party details in step 4 of the application form.

7. Pay application fee 

You must now pay the fee for your notification application. You can also apply to have the fee waived in this section, which means you do not have to pay. A waiver may be given depending on your income and dependents.

We do not accept cheques, postal orders, or bank drafts. You can pay electronically through your MyDSS account. If you cannot pay online, you can pay over the phone if you need to.

8. Submit application 

After completing all of the steps, you can now submit your application to us. We will check that you have sent us all necessary information.

After you submit your application

After you submit your application to notify the EPA, we will review it to make sure it meets the legal requirements. We may need to ask you for more information as part of this review.

If we accept the notification of the EPA, we will add it to the Register and the EPA will come into effect.

We will send you a certified copy of the EPA, which you can use to demonstrate your legal authority to act on behalf of the donor.

Monitoring an enduring power of attorney

We will monitor an EPA after it has been notified to us. We monitor decisions made by the attorney under the arrangement.

The attorney must submit a report to us every year. Each report must include details of costs, expenses or money paid to the attorney(s) in relation to their duties. 

If the attorney has the authority to make decisions about your property and affairs, they must submit a list of your assets, liabilities, income and expenses to us so that we can monitor them. They must also keep proper accounts and financial records of your income and expenses and include these in written reports to us.

We can send someone to talk to you or your attorney. For example, we can send a general visitor or a special visitor if we want to check that the agreement is working the way it should.

Find out More

• You can find out more information on general visitors at the link general visitor
• You can find out more information on special visitors at the link special visitor
• You can view what these reports look like under the heading Sample online reporting forms for attorneys at the link forms