Can foreigners and PRs make a Lasting Power of Attorney in Singapore?

Yes. The idea that only citizens can make an LPA is folklore. PRs and foreigners can, they just pay the PR or foreigner band: from 1 May 2026 that's S$30 as a PR and S$160 as a foreigner.

Do I need LPA Form 1 or Form 2?

Form 1, unless your donees need customised powers beyond the standard menu, such as business assets, specific restrictions on gifts, or a complicated panel of donees. Form 2 clauses must be drafted by a lawyer qualified to practise Singapore law. The pattern we keep seeing is people reaching for Form 2 because it sounds more thorough, then paying a lawyer to reproduce what Form 1 already gives them.

Will my home-country power of attorney work with a Singapore bank?

Don't plan on it. Singapore banks want a Singapore-registered LPA, or a deputyship. That's the whole reason to do this while you're still here and still have capacity.

Can I get a refund if OPG rejects my LPA application?

No. You pay on OPGO and there's no refund once you've submitted, including where OPG rejects the application. Read the form twice before you submit it. Cancelling the registration of an LPA is published separately, at S$28.

What happens if I never make an LPA and lose capacity?

Deputyship: applying to court after the crisis, slowly and expensively, to get permission to do what a signed LPA would have granted in advance. An LPA is something you can only do while you don't need it, so if you hold Singapore bank accounts, SRS, or an interest in property here, make it while your capacity is still clearly intact.

LPA Form 1 vs Form 2: PR and foreigner fees from May 2026

Most PRs and foreigners need LPA Form 1, not Form 2. From 1 May 2026 OPG’s fee is S$30 for PRs and S$160 for foreigners, plus the Certificate Issuer’s fee.

Living4 min readReviewed 15 Sep 2026Updated 20 Sep 2026

On this page

The r/askSingapore threads asking “do foreigners even qualify for an LPA?” and “Form 1 or Form 2?” tend to run on fee folklore and then stop. If you want the orientation piece first, we’ve written that up at LPA and AMD for PRs and foreigners. This one is narrower: which form you actually need, and what it costs you once the May 2026 fees bite.

Which form you actually need

Form	Who it is for	Drafting
Form 1	Donees get general personal-welfare and/or property powers, with basic restrictions	Most donors, completed through OPGO
Form 2	Donees get customised powers beyond the standard Form 1 menu	Clauses must be drafted by a lawyer qualified to practise Singapore law

Form 2 exists for genuinely tailored limits: business assets, specific restrictions on gifts, a complicated panel of donees. If none of that describes you, Form 1 is the answer and you don’t need to think about it much harder than that. The pattern we keep seeing is people reaching for Form 2 because it sounds more thorough, then paying a lawyer to reproduce what Form 1 already gives them.

What OPG charges, from 1 May 2026

MSF’s citizen-facing LPA fees PDF and the 2026 fee regulations, which come into force on 1 May 2026, publish these numbers.

Donor status	Form 1	Form 2
Singapore citizen	Free (Form 1 waiver from 1 Apr 2026 as MSF announces)	S$30
Singapore PR	S$30	S$30
Foreigner (neither SC nor PR)	S$160	S$160

Cancelling the registration of an LPA is also published, at S$28. You pay on OPGO, and there’s no refund once you’ve submitted, including where OPG rejects the application. So it pays to read the form twice before you submit it.

What that table leaves out

The OPG fee is the government’s slice, not your total. You also pay an LPA Certificate Issuer, meaning a doctor, lawyer, or psychiatrist from OPG’s list, and their professional fee is their own commercial decision rather than a number OPG sets. If you’re going the Form 2 route, add solicitor drafting fees for the annexes on top. And much later, when a donee actually has to satisfy a bank that you have lost capacity, there can be medical reports to pay for as well. None of these are large on their own; they’re just invisible until you’re committed.

Folklore worth killing

What you’ll hear	What is actually the case
“Only citizens can make an LPA”	PRs and foreigners can, they just pay the PR or foreigner band
“My home-country POA will unlock DBS if I lose capacity”	Singapore banks want a Singapore-registered LPA, or a deputyship
“Form 2 is always safer”	Form 2 is for custom powers, and most households waste money there
“An LPA replaces a will and a CPF nomination”	Different rails entirely, see wills and CPF nominations
“AMD is just the medical half of an LPA”	AMD is a separate MOH document, covered in the parent LPA and AMD guide

So what should you do

If you hold Singapore bank accounts, SRS, or an interest in property here, EP or PR, make an LPA while your capacity is still clearly intact. That’s the whole trick: an LPA is something you can only do while you don’t need it. Default to Form 1, budget S$30 as a PR or S$160 as a foreigner for OPG, add the Certificate Issuer’s fee, and keep your instructions to your donees filed next to your will and your CPF nomination map so that whoever has to act can find all three at once.

The alternative, if you leave it, is deputyship: applying to court after the crisis, slowly and expensively, to get permission to do what a signed LPA would have granted in advance. This fee table is trying to save you from that.

Questions, answered

Can foreigners and PRs make a Lasting Power of Attorney in Singapore?: Yes. The idea that only citizens can make an LPA is folklore. PRs and foreigners can, they just pay the PR or foreigner band: from 1 May 2026 that's S$30 as a PR and S$160 as a foreigner.
Do I need LPA Form 1 or Form 2?: Form 1, unless your donees need customised powers beyond the standard menu, such as business assets, specific restrictions on gifts, or a complicated panel of donees. Form 2 clauses must be drafted by a lawyer qualified to practise Singapore law. The pattern we keep seeing is people reaching for Form 2 because it sounds more thorough, then paying a lawyer to reproduce what Form 1 already gives them.
Is the OPG fee the whole cost of making an LPA?: No, it's the government's slice. You also pay an LPA Certificate Issuer, meaning a doctor, lawyer, or psychiatrist from OPG's list, and their professional fee is their own commercial decision rather than a number OPG sets. Form 2 adds solicitor drafting fees for the annexes, and much later there can be medical reports when a donee has to satisfy a bank that you've lost capacity.
Will my home-country power of attorney work with a Singapore bank?: Don't plan on it. Singapore banks want a Singapore-registered LPA, or a deputyship. That's the whole reason to do this while you're still here and still have capacity.
Can I get a refund if OPG rejects my LPA application?: No. You pay on OPGO and there's no refund once you've submitted, including where OPG rejects the application. Read the form twice before you submit it. Cancelling the registration of an LPA is published separately, at S$28.
What happens if I never make an LPA and lose capacity?: Deputyship: applying to court after the crisis, slowly and expensively, to get permission to do what a signed LPA would have granted in advance. An LPA is something you can only do while you don't need it, so if you hold Singapore bank accounts, SRS, or an interest in property here, make it while your capacity is still clearly intact.

Sources & citations

Admin and policy details change. Prefer the official page when making decisions; we cite primary sources for Singapore government and statutory guidance.

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