Can I add another LPA later?
Yes, as long as the donor still has mental capacity when they make it. The second LPA is an entirely new document with its own signing, its own £92 registration fee and its own several-week wait for registration — there is no way to append it to an LPA that is already registered.
Make your LPA online for £49
Answer simple questions. We prepare your LPA documents from your answers, ready for the next steps.
- £49 per LPA, or £79 for both types
- No solicitor required for straightforward LPAs
- Plain English questions, one screen at a time
- Save your progress and come back to it
- Checked for common completion errors as you go
- Review everything before you pay
The Office of the Public Guardian charges a separate £92 to register each LPA.
What adding one later costs you
| Both now | One now, one later | |
|---|---|---|
| Our fee | £79 | £49 + £49 = £98 |
| OPG fee | £184 | £184 |
| Signing sessions | 1 | 2 |
| Registration waits | 1 | 2 |
| Capacity required | Once | Twice |
The extra £19 is the smaller part of the story. The bigger cost of waiting is the two separate registration waits, each currently around 8 to 10 weeks including the statutory four-week notice period, and the fact that capacity has to hold up on a second, later occasion.
The risk that matters
Capacity is the real deadline
If the donor loses capacity before the second LPA is signed, it can never be made — not by a spouse, a child, or any service, however urgent the need. The only remaining route is a Court of Protection deputyship application for the uncovered area, which is slower, considerably more expensive, and involves ongoing supervision by the court.
The mechanics of doing it in two goes
Adding a second LPA later is not a variation, an amendment or an add-on to the first — it is a fresh application from the very first page. You answer the full set of questions again for the new document, even though many of the answers (names, addresses, attorney details) will simply repeat what you gave the first time. The donor signs again, in the correct order, with an independent witness. The certificate provider signs again too, and it is entirely possible this needs to be a different person if the one you used before is no longer available, willing or eligible — there is no rule that the same certificate provider must be reused, but there is also no shortcut if they are not.
Once signed, the second LPA restarts the statutory four-week notice period from scratch, even though the first LPA has already been through it. The Office of the Public Guardian treats it as a new registration with no reference to the earlier one, so the same eight-to-ten-week wait applies again before the second document is usable. The £92 registration fee is payable again in full — there is no reduced fee for a second LPA made by the same donor, and no way to register the two together retrospectively once the first has already gone through.
A worked example
In March, Priya makes only the Property & Financial Affairs LPA for her father, Anil, paying £49 plus the £92 OPG fee, £141 in total. It is signed on 3 March, the notice period runs to 31 March, and the OPG registers it by early May. In September, Anil has a fall and Priya realises she also needs the Health & Welfare LPA to be involved in discharge planning. She now pays a further £49 for the second document, Anil signs again on 12 September with the same certificate provider (who is still willing and eligible), the notice period runs a fresh four weeks to 10 October, and the OPG registers it around early December — a second wait of roughly eight to ten weeks, layered on top of the first. Her total spend across both documents comes to £238 (£49 + £49 + £92 + £92), against £171 (£79 + £92) had she made both in March.
When adding one later genuinely makes sense
- The donor's circumstances have genuinely changed — for example, they have just inherited property or savings and now need the financial LPA they didn't before.
- The donor was previously unwilling to make the health LPA and has since changed their mind.
- Cost was the only barrier the first time and has since eased.
In all of these cases, the sensible move is to act promptly once the decision is made, rather than treating it as something to fit in eventually. See how it works for how quickly the online process can be completed once you are ready, and pricing for the current fees for one LPA versus both.
Why doing both together almost always wins on cost and time
| Both together now | One now, one added later | |
|---|---|---|
| Our fees | £79 | £49 then £49 = £98 |
| OPG fees | £184 (once) | £92 then £92 = £184 |
| Notice periods served | One, run once for both | Two, run separately |
| Times capacity is tested | Once | Twice |
| Certificate provider sessions | One | Potentially two, if availability changes |
The £19 difference in our fee is the smallest part of the comparison. The real cost of splitting the two LPAs is the second full registration cycle — another four-week notice period, another 8-10 week wait, and another moment at which the donor's capacity has to be sound enough to make a valid LPA. None of that can be avoided by paying more or asking us to expedite it; the timings are set by statute and by the Office of the Public Guardian, not by any provider. See LPA cost for how these fees compare with a solicitor doing the same thing in two stages.
Common questions
Does the first LPA need to be reopened to add the second?
No. The first LPA is untouched — the second is a completely separate document, prepared and registered independently.
Can attorneys be different on the second LPA?
Yes, there is no requirement for the same people to act on both — see do both LPAs need the same attorneys.
What if we're not sure capacity will last long enough?
Treat that uncertainty as a reason to act now rather than wait — see what happens if capacity is already lost for what the alternative looks like.
Can I use the same certificate provider for the second LPA?
Yes, if they remain willing and still meet the independence rules. There is no requirement to change, but equally no guarantee they will still be available months or years later.
Does the notice period for the second LPA overlap with the first?
No. Each LPA runs its own four-week statutory notice period from the date it is signed, regardless of when the other one was made or registered.
Read next
Where this fits
This page is part of Choosing which LPA you need. The pages below take it further.
- Property & Financial Affairs LPA
The LP1F: money, bills, savings, property and everything a bank will ask for.
- Health & Welfare LPA
The LP1H: care, treatment decisions and life-sustaining treatment.
- What an LPA costs in 2026
Our £49 and £79 prices, the £92 OPG registration fee, and solicitor comparisons.
Most people make both LPAs
Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare together cost £79 instead of £98 separately.
The Office of the Public Guardian charges a separate £92 to register each LPA.
This is general information about Lasting Powers of Attorney in England and Wales. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice about your situation. What we do and do not do.