Apply for a Lasting Power of Attorney

What "applying for an LPA" actually involves

Applying for a Lasting Power of Attorney means two separate stages: completing and signing the paper form, then registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). An LPA has no legal effect at all until it has been registered, so "applying" really means getting a valid, correctly signed form in front of the OPG with the registration fee attached.

You do the paperwork yourself (or with help), the donor and attorneys sign it in a fixed order, and then either you or the OPG sends it off. There is no interview, no court hearing and no solicitor requirement — but there is a strict process, and it is easy to get the order of signing wrong.

The two LPAs you can apply for

• Property and Financial Affairs LPA (form LP1F) — covers bank accounts, bills, property, investments and pensions.
• Health and Welfare LPA (form LP1H) — covers medical treatment, care arrangements and where the donor lives.

They are entirely separate documents, each needs its own application and its own OPG fee, and you can apply for one or both at the same time. See property and financial LPA and health and welfare LPA for what each one actually covers.

Who has to be involved

• The donor — the person the LPA is for, who must have mental capacity when they make it and sign it.
• Attorneys — the people given authority to act. You can appoint more than one, and decide whether they must act jointly or can act independently.
• Replacement attorneys (optional) — step in if an original attorney can no longer act, for example if they die or lose capacity themselves.
• A certificate provider — an independent person who confirms the donor understands what they are signing and is not under pressure.
• Witnesses — needed for the donor's and attorneys' signatures; a witness cannot also be an attorney on the same LPA.

None of these roles need a solicitor. A certificate provider is often a GP, but far more commonly it is simply someone who has known the donor well for at least two years, or a suitably qualified professional such as a nurse or social worker.

How our online application works

1. Answer plain-English questions about the donor, the attorneys and any replacement attorneys — no legal jargon, and you can save and come back at any time.
2. Choose whether attorneys act jointly, jointly and severally, or jointly for some decisions and independently for others.
3. Add any preferences or instructions you want recorded.
4. We check your answers for common completion errors and assemble the correct LP1F and/or LP1H paperwork, in the right format for the OPG.
5. Download and print the forms, then arrange signing in the required order (below).
6. Send the signed forms to the OPG yourself, with the registration fee, or use their registration service if you prefer them to post it.

What to have ready before you start

• Full names, dates of birth and addresses for the donor and every attorney and replacement attorney.
• A decision on how attorneys should act if there is more than one.
• The name and address of your certificate provider.
• Any preferences (things you'd like attorneys to consider) or instructions (things they must or must not do).
• Around 20–30 minutes of uninterrupted time to get through the questions, though you can split this across sessions.

Signing in the correct order

The order of signing matters. A form signed out of sequence can be rejected by the OPG, which adds weeks to the process. As a general rule, the donor signs first, then the certificate provider, then attorneys and replacement attorneys, and finally (if someone else is registering it) the person applying to register.

Sending it to the OPG and how long registration takes

Once every signature is in place, the completed forms go to the Office of the Public Guardian along with the registration fee. The OPG checks the paperwork, allows a 4-week statutory waiting period during which anyone can raise an objection, and then registers the LPA if there are no issues. Altogether, registration typically takes around 8 weeks from the day the OPG receives a correctly completed application, longer if anything needs correcting and resubmitting.

What it costs

Our fee is £49 for one LPA or £79 for both — this covers preparing your paperwork through the online service. Separately, the Office of the Public Guardian charges £92 per LPA to register it; this goes to the OPG directly and is not part of our fee. Some people qualify for a reduced OPG fee or an exemption based on income — see LPA cost for the full breakdown.

The mistakes that get applications delayed or returned

• Signing in the wrong order, particularly the donor signing after the attorneys instead of before them.
• Using an attorney as a witness, or a witness under 18.
• Missing or inconsistent dates between the donor's signature and the certificate provider's.
• Leaving continuation sheets unsigned or not referring to them correctly on the main form.
• Sending the wrong fee amount, or paying for the wrong number of LPAs.
• Gaps or contradictions in preferences and instructions that make the attorneys' authority unclear.

None of these are complicated once you know about them, which is exactly why checking is worthwhile before anything gets signed and posted.

DIY, a solicitor, or an online service

An LPA is a standard legal form, not a bespoke legal document, which is why most people don't need a solicitor to apply. If there's a capacity question, a family dispute, or a business or trust involved, proper legal advice is worth paying for. Otherwise, apply for LPA online and keep the cost to the OPG fee plus a small preparation fee.