Kartlegging og utredning av ordningen med fremtidsfullmakter : Rapport til Statens Sivilrettsforvaltning 16. august 2019
Abstract
The report is an overview and analysis of the Norwegian legislation and practice regarding continuing powers of attorney (CPAs). The legislation on such CPAs was introduced in Norwegian legislation by the Act on Guardianship, which entered into force 1. July 2013.
The report considers CPAs which have been brought before the County Governors for confirmation in the Act’s first five years. There has been over 900 registered cases, and the substance of the case has been considered in ap. 640 cases. The county governors have confirmed 563 CPAs, i.e. almost 90 %. For these CPAs, the report presents the granter’s age and sex, the number of attorneys, the relationship between the granter and the attorney, the CPAs’ content and the timespan between the writing and the confirmation of the CPA.
The report shows that in 83 % of the confirmed CPAs, the attorney is the granter’s child(ren). Two thirds of the CPAs are limited to economic matters, while one third covers both economic and personal matters. Almost 90 % of the CPAs include sale of the granter’s real property, and more than 80 % of the CPAs include a right to give gifts. In ap. 75 % of these, the attorney is among the recipients.
In the first years, many CPAs were sent to the county governors immediately after they had been written, and were not confirmed because they had not entered into force. Only a small minority have been denied confirmation for other reasons, among them the most common is that the granter had lost his or her capacity when the CPA was written.
The report has information received from county governors, banks, The Norwegian Land Registry and lawyers.
In the report, there are references to international documents, with special weight on the Council of Europe’s Principles concerning continuing powers of attorney and advance directives for incapacity (CM/Rec(2009)11), and legislation from Denmark and Sweden.
The report also contains an evaluation of the CPAs and considers the need for CPAs, the contents of the CPAs and the county governors’ routines and levels of control in confirmation cases.
The report ends with proposals for improvements in the procedures and legislation concerning CPAs.