Signs of financial abuse by an attorney
Guidance from Estate Advisory Group
Written and legally reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner·Last reviewed 13 August 2026
Most attorneys are honest. The ones who are not follow a recognisable pattern.
Warning signs
- Cash withdrawals with no matching spending on the donor.
- Care fees unpaid while the attorney's own circumstances improve.
- Sudden changes to accounts, the will, or property ownership.
- The donor isolated from other relatives, or unable to speak to anyone alone.
- Refusal to provide any account of what has been spent.
What to do
- Write down dates, amounts and what you observed, factually.
- Report to the Office of the Public Guardian's safeguarding team.
- Contact the local authority adult safeguarding team, especially where there is neglect as well.
- Call the police where there is evidence of theft or coercion.
- Consider a Court of Protection application to remove the attorney.
Preventing it when making an LPA
Design the LPA against it
Appoint two attorneys, name people to notify, and consider an instruction requiring annual accounts to be shared with a named relative. See preferences and instructions.
Common patterns
| Pattern | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Drip-feeding | Small, regular transfers below any threshold that would draw attention |
| The 'loan' | A large one-off transfer described informally as a loan, with no paperwork or repayment plan |
| Neglect alongside theft | Care fees or bills unpaid while the attorney's own spending increases |
| Isolation | The donor prevented from seeing other relatives or answering their own phone or post |
Worked example
Sandra is attorney for her mother-in-law, Elaine, who has advanced dementia and lives in a care home costing £1,200 a month. Elaine's granddaughter notices that a direct debit for the fees was returned unpaid twice last quarter, yet Sandra has just replaced her own car. When asked, Sandra says Elaine's account 'runs itself' and refuses to show statements. The granddaughter reports the pattern to the OPG, which requests six months of records. The records show £14,000 moved from Elaine's account to Sandra's over eight months in amounts just under £500 at a time. The OPG refers the case to the Court of Protection, which revokes Sandra's authority, orders repayment and appoints a panel deputy to manage Elaine's affairs going forward.
Common questions
What if the donor still has capacity and is being pressured?
Help them revoke the LPA, and report the coercion. Undue influence over someone with capacity is still abuse.
Will reporting make things worse for the donor?
Safeguarding teams are used to managing that risk. Doing nothing rarely improves it.
Is it abuse if the attorney genuinely believes they are entitled to the money?
The law does not care about the attorney's belief. Attorneys can only spend the donor's money for the donor's benefit, and small unauthorised 'loans' or gifts to themselves are treated the same as deliberate theft.
What if I am wrong and there is an innocent explanation?
That is a normal outcome of a safeguarding referral. The OPG and local authority are used to closing cases where records show the spending was legitimate, so raising a concern in good faith carries little downside.
Read next
Where this fits
This page is part of Disputes and safeguards. 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
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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