Do both LPAs need to match?
Guidance from Estate Advisory Group
Written and legally reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner·Last reviewed 13 August 2026
No. The property and financial affairs LPA and the health and welfare LPA are separate legal documents, and they can differ in almost every respect — attorneys, structure and wording included.
The short answer
There is no legal requirement for the two LPAs to name the same people, use the same wording, or work the same way. The property and financial affairs LPA and the health and welfare LPA are registered separately with the Office of the Public Guardian, each with its own £92 fee, and each is read on its own terms. What links them is only that they both concern the same donor.
What can differ
| Choice | Can differ? |
|---|---|
| Who the attorneys are | Yes |
| Jointly or jointly and severally | Yes |
| Replacement attorneys | Yes |
| Preferences and instructions | Yes |
| When it can be used | Only the financial LPA offers this choice |
| Life-sustaining treatment | Health LPA only |
| Certificate provider | Can be the same person or different people |
The financial LPA can be set to work as soon as it is registered, or restricted to only apply once the donor loses capacity — a choice made on the form itself. The health and welfare LPA has no such option: it only ever takes effect once the donor cannot make the decision themselves, whatever the wording says.
What is better kept consistent
- Overlapping at least one attorney, so somebody sees the whole picture across money and care.
- The same people notified at registration, to avoid confusion about who is being told what.
- The same approach to replacement attorneys, so cover does not fail on one document only.
- Consistent instructions where a restriction genuinely applies to both money and welfare, rather than two versions that read differently for no reason.
A worked example
Anita is completing both forms for her father, Frank. On the financial LPA she names herself and her brother Marcus jointly and severally, and lets the LPA come into force straight away so she can help Frank with online banking now, while he still has capacity, rather than waiting until he loses it. On the health and welfare LPA she names herself as sole attorney, because it can only ever be used once capacity is lost anyway, and she wants to avoid the risk of disagreement with Marcus at a hospital bedside during a crisis. She keeps Marcus fully informed of both documents even though he is not named on the health form, so there are no surprises later if a care decision affects the household budget he also manages.
Where mismatches cause problems
Different attorneys, no shared visibility
The most common issue is not the legal mismatch itself but the practical one: a financial attorney who has never seen the health and welfare LPA may not realise a welfare decision is about to trigger a large cost, and a welfare attorney may not know what funds are actually available. Sharing copies of both documents between attorneys, even where they only act on one, avoids most of this friction.
Getting the paperwork right
Because the two forms are independent, they must each be internally consistent — the attorneys, the signing order and the instructions on the LP1F need to make sense on their own, and the same is true of the LP1H. A free eligibility check or an online LPA service that checks both forms together, rather than in isolation, catches the situation where wording on one document accidentally contradicts the other.
Common questions
Can I use one certificate provider for both?
Yes, and one signing appointment can cover both forms if the order of signing is right on each — see LPA signing order.
Do both get registered separately?
Yes, with a separate £92 OPG fee each, so two LPAs cost £184 in registration fees alone.
Can the financial LPA start immediately while the health one waits?
Yes. The financial LPA can be used as soon as it is registered, with the donor's agreement, or restricted to only apply once capacity is lost. The health and welfare LPA has no such choice — it only ever applies once capacity is lost, regardless of the wording used.
Is it a problem if the two forms use slightly different wording for similar instructions?
It can cause confusion if the wording looks inconsistent without a clear reason. Where you want the same restriction to apply to both money and welfare decisions, use identical wording on each form rather than paraphrasing.
Do I have to make both LPAs at the same time?
No. You can make one now and the other later, though most people find it more convenient to do both together while attorneys and a certificate provider are already gathered.
Read next
Where this fits
This page is part of LPA basics. The pages below take it further.
- Make an LPA online
The whole journey end to end: questions, documents, signing and registration.
- Solicitor, GOV.UK or online?
An honest comparison, including when you genuinely should pay a solicitor.
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
Ready to make your LPA?
Choose one LPA or both, then start online for £49 per LPA.
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