What if an attorney loses capacity or becomes bankrupt?

Guidance from Estate Advisory Group

Written and legally reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner·Last reviewed 13 August 2026

Attorneys can be disqualified mid-appointment. What happens next depends on how you set the LPA up.

Events that end an appointment

The attorney loses mental capacity themselves.
Bankruptcy or a debt relief order — for a Property & Financial Affairs LPA only.
The attorney formally disclaims the role.
Divorce or dissolution, where the attorney is the donor's spouse or civil partner and the LPA does not say otherwise.
The attorney dies.

Keeping the LPA alive

Jointly and severally appointed attorneys simply continue. Jointly appointed attorneys usually fail as a group unless a replacement is named. A sole attorney with no replacement means the LPA ends.

Bankruptcy only bites on the financial LPA

A bankrupt attorney can still act on a Health & Welfare LPA, but not on a Property & Financial Affairs one.

The paperwork

Attorney signs a disclaimer form, or evidence of the disqualifying event is gathered.
Send it to the OPG with the original LPA.
The OPG amends the register and returns the document.
Inform banks, the GP and care providers.

Common questions

Can an attorney resign?

Yes, using the OPG disclaimer form. See how to stop being an attorney.

Can I remove an attorney myself?

Only while you have capacity, via a partial deed of revocation. See removing an attorney.

Where this fits

This page is part of Attorneys and certificate providers. The pages below take it further.

Make an LPA online
The whole journey end to end: questions, documents, signing and registration.
The LPA forms explained
LP1F, LP1H and LP3 — what each section asks and where people go wrong.

Review and sources

Reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner. Last reviewed 13 August 2026. We recheck fees, forms and Office of the Public Guardian guidance whenever they change — see our editorial policy.

Official sources

Making your own LPA?

Name your attorneys, set how they must decide together, and we prepare the forms for £49.

Appoint your attorneys

The Office of the Public Guardian charges a separate £92 to register each LPA.

This is general information about how Lasting Powers of Attorney work in England and Wales. It is not legal advice about your situation. What we do and do not do.

Published by Estate Advisory Group