c. Notification of the registration
While there is no statutory requirement that the attorney has to notify any person before he/she brings the EPA to the Court for registration, the law allows the donor to specify that the attorney must notify the donor, the other attorney (if more than one attorney is appointed) and/or up to 2 persons before applying for the registration (see section 6 of the Enduring Powers of Attorney (Prescribed Form) Regulation (Cap.501A of the Laws of Hong Kong)). This mechanism should also serve to give some psychological comfort to the donor, by ensuring that persons other than the attorney will become aware of the operation of the EPA upon the donor becoming mentally incapacitated.
However, if the attorney fails to notify the nominated person(s), that does not prevent the EPA from being registered, nor does it invalidate the EPA; however the Court will be entitled to draw an adverse inference from such failure in any legal action related to the subject EPA (section 19 of the Enduring Powers of Attorney Ordinance (Cap.501 of the Laws of Hong Kong)).
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