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a. Certificate by a registered medical practitioner

The significance of the registered medical practitioner is obvious: a registered medical practitioner is certainly the right person to verify that the donor is mentally capable when the donor signs the EPA.  Section 5(2)(e) of the Enduring Powers of Attorney Ordinance (Cap.501 of the Laws of Hong Kong) specifies that the registered medical practitioner has to be “satisfied that the donor was mentally capable” when signing the EPA.  This certification by a registered medical practitioner would also serve to minimize the chance of future challenges to an EPA on the ground that the donor was already mental incapacitated at the time of executing the EPA.

 

One should note that this certification is to be given by a “registered medical practitioner”, not necessarily a specialist such as a psychiatrist or neurologist.  It is recognized that many people would hesitate to meet a psychiatrist or neurologist, lest being labeled as having something wrong mentally.  The requirement for the donor to be certified by a registered medical practitioner would reduce the reluctance that a donor may have in this aspect.  This would also lessen the costs to be incurred because the fees for a general practitioner would likely be lower than that of a specialist.