Register for the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS)

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Registering for someone else

If you’re registering for someone else, you need to prove you have the legal right to make decisions for them or for their estate.

You need different documents depending on where you live and whether the person you’re registering for is alive.

After you’ve registered, a caseworker will contact you by email. They will tell you how to send any ID documents.

If you have power of attorney in England or Wales  

If you’re a property and financial affairs attorney, you’ll need to provide a registered lasting power of attorney (LPA) document. This must:  

  • be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)  
  • be stamped with ‘Validated – OPG’ 
  • confirm the attorney’s name, address and date of birth 
  • confirm the donor’s name and address  

If the LPA was registered on or after 1 January 2016, you can give your caseworker access to view the online summary.

You can also send the original LPA document or a certified copy to your caseworker. A solicitor will be able to certify a copy. 

If you have power of attorney in Scotland

If you’re a property and financial affairs attorney in Scotland, you’ll need to provide a registered continuing or combined power of attorney document. This must: 

  • be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) 
  • be stamped with the Public Guardian’s certification indicating registration 
  • confirm the attorney’s name, address and date of birth
  • confirm the donor’s name and address 

You’ll need to send your caseworker either: 

  • the original certificate confirming the power of attorney is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) 
  • a certified copy of the power of attorney (you can have this certified by a solicitor or notary public) 

If you have power of attorney in Northern Ireland

If you’re a property and affairs attorney, you’ll need to provide a registered enduring power of attorney (EPA) document. This must:

  • be registered with the Office of Care and Protection (Patients’ Section)
  • be stamped as being registered and carry the seal of the Court 
  • confirm the attorney’s name and address 
  • confirm the donor’s name, address and date of birth 

You’ll need to send your caseworker either:

  • the original EPA document 
  • a certified copy of the EPA (you can apply for certified copies from the Office of Care and Protection)


Office of Care and Protection (Patients’ Section)
Royal Courts of Justice
Chichester Street
Belfast
BT1 3JF

If the person you’re representing has died  

If you’re representing someone who has died, you need to provide legal documents to prove you can manage their estate. 

If there is a will (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) 

If you’re an executor of the will, you’ll need to provide a grant of probate which includes:

  • the full name and address of the deceased 
  • the date of death 
  • what country the deceased lived in (their ‘domicile’)

You can apply for probate if you’re named as an executor in either the will or an update to it (known as a ‘codicil’).

Up to 4 executors can be named.  

If the will does not name an executor, or the named executors cannot apply, you’ll need to send ‘a letter of administration with the will annexed’. This proves you have the right to act as an executor of the person’s estate. A solicitor can help you get this. 

If there is a will (Scotland) 

You will need to provide evidence of ‘confirmation’. 

Your caseworker will tell you what evidence you need.

If there is no will 

If there is no will, the closest living relative can register. 

You’ll need to show you have the legal right to administer the estate, for example probate.

This may be the deceased’s husband, wife or civil partner. It cannot be a partner who was not married to or in a civil partnership with the deceased. 

You’ll need to provide a grant of letters of administration, including: 

  • the full name and address of the deceased 
  • the date of death  
  • what country the deceased lived in (their ‘domicile’)

If you need help

Contact the Department for Business and Trade for support with registering for the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (HCRS).

The Department for Business and Trade hcrsregistration@businessandtrade.gov.uk

View a printable version of the whole guide

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