What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
What an LPA does, the two types, and why it only helps if it is made before it is needed.
LPA guides
Everything you need to understand before you make a Lasting Power of Attorney, written in plain English and specific to England and Wales.
Ready to act rather than read? Making an LPA online covers cost, which type you need and choosing attorneys.
The basics
What an LPA is, the two types, and whether you need a solicitor at all.
What happens if you have no LPA?
Why next of kin has no automatic authority, and what a deputyship application involves instead.
The difference between the two types of LPA
Money versus medical: what each of the two LPAs covers and why most people make both.
How to make a Lasting Power of Attorney: step by step
The four stages from deciding on attorneys to holding a registered LPA.
Can I make an LPA myself?
You can, and it is legal. What DIY involves and where it goes wrong.
Do I need a solicitor for an LPA?
No — but here are the cases where a solicitor really is worth the money.
LPA vs EPA: what happened to Enduring Powers of Attorney?
EPAs stopped in 2007 but old ones still work. How they differ from an LPA.
LPA vs ordinary (general) power of attorney
Why an ordinary power of attorney is useless once capacity is lost.
LPA vs will: why you need both
Two documents, two entirely separate jobs — and no overlap at all.
Mental capacity explained (and why timing matters)
What capacity means in law, how it is judged, and why timing decides everything.
Choosing your people
Attorneys, replacements, witnesses and how decisions get made between them.
Who can be an attorney?
Who is allowed to act, who is disqualified, how many to appoint and how they should decide together.
What is a certificate provider?
The independent person who confirms the donor understands the LPA — and who is not allowed to do it.
Can an attorney be a witness on an LPA?
No. Why not, who can witness instead, and what happens if it has already been done.
Who can witness an LPA?
The witness rules, including remote signing and who must not do it.
How many attorneys should I appoint?
One, two or four? The practical trade-offs, and what banks find easiest.
Jointly or jointly and severally: which should you choose?
The single most consequential tick box on the form, explained.
Replacement attorneys on an LPA
Free insurance against your LPA quietly failing years from now.
Can my husband or wife be my attorney?
Yes — but the second layer of your LPA needs more thought than the first.
Appointing a professional attorney (and what they charge)
When a paid professional makes sense, and the wording it requires.
What are an attorney's duties and responsibilities?
What you are signing up for if you agree to be someone's attorney.
The forms and wording
LP1F, LP1H, LP3, signing order, preferences and instructions, and the usual mistakes.
People to notify explained
Section 6 of the form: who you can name, what they receive, and whether to name anyone.
LP1F explained: the financial LPA form, section by section
A section-by-section walkthrough of the financial LPA form.
LP1H explained: the health and welfare LPA form
The health form, and the life-sustaining treatment decision at the heart of it.
LPA signing order: who signs first
The one sequence you cannot get wrong, and how to manage it across households.
Form LP3: notifying people about an LPA
The notice form, the three-week objection window, and who sends it.
LPA preferences and instructions: what you can and cannot say
Binding rules versus wishes, and the wording that gets LPAs rejected.
The most common LPA mistakes (and how to avoid them)
The errors that cost people £92 and eight weeks, ranked by frequency.
LPA continuation sheets explained
Which continuation sheet you need, and when.
Fees and value
The OPG registration fee, fee reductions, solicitor pricing and what is genuinely free.
The LPA registration fee: £92 explained
£92 per document: what it covers, when you pay and who pays less.
LPA fee exemption and remission: paying less than £92
Half fee or no fee: who qualifies and what evidence to send.
How much does a solicitor charge for an LPA?
Typical solicitor pricing, what is included, and how to compare quotes.
The cost of two LPAs, and of LPAs for a couple
Exact totals for both LPAs, and for a couple doing all four.
Is an LPA worth it?
The cost of having one versus the cost of not having one.
Can you make an LPA for free?
What is actually free, what never is, and where to find free help.
Registering and using an LPA
Registration, banks, certified copies, changes and cancellation.
How long does LPA registration take?
The statutory waiting period, current OPG timescales, and what you cannot do until it is registered.
Registering an LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian
What to send, what it costs, and what comes back stamped.
What if the OPG rejects your LPA?
Why applications come back, and what each fault costs to fix.
When does an LPA take effect?
Registration, the LP1F choice, and the capacity trigger for LP1H.
How to use a registered LPA with banks
Getting an LPA recognised by each bank, and what they ask for.
Certified copies of an LPA: how to make them
Who can certify, the exact wording, and why it matters.
The OPG 'Use a lasting power of attorney' service
Sharing an LPA with an access code instead of paper copies.
Changing or cancelling an LPA
Revocation, removing an attorney, and what can never be amended.
Common situations
Elderly parents, couples, a dementia diagnosis, care fees, business owners and living abroad.
Setting up an LPA for an elderly parent
How to raise it, help with it, and avoid the accusation of pressure.
LPAs for husband and wife
Four documents, two people, and the mistakes couples make.
Making an LPA after a dementia diagnosis
Diagnosis is not the end of the window, but the window is closing.
LPAs if you live abroad or own overseas assets
Jurisdiction, foreign property and attorneys who live overseas.
LPAs and care home fees
Paying for care, selling the house, and the deprivation of assets trap.
LPAs for business owners
Why a business usually needs its own LPA and professional advice.
LPAs and joint bank accounts
Why a joint account is not the safety net people assume.
Making an LPA if you have no close family
Who to appoint when there is no obvious family candidate.
Being an attorney
What to do once the LPA is registered: authority, records, gifts, property and stepping down.
How to act as an attorney: a practical first-90-days guide
The first practical steps once you start acting under a registered LPA.
Attorney record keeping: what to write down and keep
A simple, defensible system for accounts, receipts and decision notes.
Can an attorney make gifts from the donor's money?
What counts as a permitted gift, and where the line is.
Conflicts of interest for attorneys under an LPA
How to spot and handle a conflict before it becomes an allegation.
Selling the donor's house under an LPA
The practical route through a property sale as an attorney.
Renting out the donor's property as an attorney
The practical and legal considerations before letting a donor's home.
LPAs, the DWP and becoming a benefits appointee
How attorneys deal with the DWP, and when to apply to be an appointee.
Investments, ISAs and pensions: what an attorney can do
The rules on investments, discretionary management and pension decisions.
How to stop being an attorney (disclaiming an LPA)
The disclaimer process and its effect on the rest of the LPA.
What happens to an LPA when the donor dies?
The handover from attorney to executor, and the notifications required.
Health and care decisions
Life-sustaining treatment, care homes, the NHS, advance decisions and end-of-life choices.
Life-sustaining treatment: option A or option B explained
The one decision on the LP1H that people find hardest, explained plainly.
Advance decision (living will) or health LPA?
The difference between a living will and a health LPA, and how they interact.
What can a health and welfare attorney actually decide?
The real scope of an LP1H, decision by decision.
Choosing a care home as an attorney
A best-interests process for a move into residential care.
NHS Continuing Healthcare and your LPA
How to pursue CHC funding as an attorney, and how the assessment works.
DNACPR decisions and your health and welfare LPA
Where an attorney fits into resuscitation decisions.
Making care decisions for someone with dementia
Handling fluctuating capacity, refusal of care and restrictive decisions.
Hospital discharge: an attorney's rights
How to influence a discharge decision, and what to do when it feels unsafe.
LPAs and the Mental Health Act
How sectioning affects an attorney's authority.
End-of-life decisions as an attorney
Palliative care, place of death and withdrawal of treatment.
Money, tax and property
Banks, mortgages, tax returns, savings, debts and the paperwork attorneys deal with.
Adding an attorney to a bank account
The bank registration process, and how to speed it up.
Tax returns and HMRC as an attorney
Registering with HMRC and filing on the donor's behalf.
Mortgages, equity release and your LPA
The lender's requirements and the limits of an attorney's borrowing power.
Dealing with the donor's debts as an attorney
Priority debts, creditor negotiation and mental capacity evidence.
Utilities, council tax and bills: the attorney's admin list
A single checklist for the household admin.
Premium Bonds, NS&I and savings under an LPA
Managing the donor's savings products as attorney.
Paying for care: what a financial attorney needs to know
Means testing, deferred payments and the deprivation of assets rule.
Insurance an attorney must not forget
Cover to review as soon as you start acting.
Do you need an LPA if you have little money?
Why modest estates benefit most, and how to keep the cost down.
Digital accounts, passwords and an LPA
Handling online banking, email and subscriptions lawfully.
Disputes and safeguards
Objections, removing an attorney, OPG investigations, abuse and the Court of Protection.
How to object to an LPA being registered
Grounds, forms and timing for objecting to registration.
How to remove an attorney from an LPA
The three routes to removing an attorney, and their consequences.
OPG investigations into attorneys: what happens
The investigation process from both sides.
Signs of financial abuse by an attorney
Warning signs, evidence to collect and where to report.
Undue pressure and LPAs: what makes one invalid
Where encouragement ends and undue influence begins.
What to do when attorneys disagree
Deadlock, mediation and the court route.
The Court of Protection explained
What the court does, the forms, the fees and the timescales.
What makes an LPA invalid?
Invalidity at the point of signing, and events that end an LPA.
How to check an LPA is genuine and still valid
Verifying an LPA through registration stamps, access codes and the OPG.
Adult safeguarding and LPAs: how referrals work
When to use safeguarding rather than the OPG, and what follows.
Quick answers
Short, direct answers to the questions people ask most about Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Can I appoint different attorneys for money and for health?
Splitting financial and welfare attorneys between different people.
Can an attorney live abroad?
The practical problems with an overseas attorney, and how to work around them.
How long does an LPA last?
Why an LPA never expires, and when to replace one anyway.
Do both LPAs need the same attorneys or the same wording?
What can differ between your two LPAs, and what usually should not.
Can you make an LPA online?
What online completion does and does not remove.
Can an attorney also be a beneficiary of the will?
The inheritance conflict, and how to keep it clean.
At what age should you make an LPA?
Why age is the wrong trigger, and what the right trigger is.
Do I need an LPA if I am married?
The myth of automatic spousal authority, dismantled.
Does an LPA cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?
The three separate UK regimes, and what to do if you move.
Can I cancel an LPA after it has been registered?
Revoking a registered LPA step by step.