LPA for early-stage dementia

Early-stage dementia is normally the point at which an LPA is most straightforward to make and most useful to have. Capacity is usually clearly present, the donor can make their own choices about who acts, and there is time to register before anything is urgently needed. The practical task is to act inside this window, not to wait and see.

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

Start their LPA

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

Is an LPA still possible for your relative?

Only the person themselves can make an LPA, and only while they have mental capacity. Start here.

They have capacity and want to make one

You can help with every part of the paperwork. They make the decisions and sign.

Start an LPA

You are not sure whether they have capacity

Capacity is decision-specific and a diagnosis alone does not settle it. Read how it is judged before you spend anything.

Learn about mental capacity

They have already lost capacity

An LPA can no longer be made — not by us and not by anyone else. The route is a deputyship application to the Court of Protection.

What to do if capacity has been lost

Why this is the right moment

The donor's own wishes shape the document rather than being guessed at later
Capacity is rarely in doubt at this stage, so the certificate is simple
There is time for the statutory four-week notice period and OPG registration
Attorneys can be told what the donor wants while they can still explain it

An LPA is not usable until it is registered by the Office of the Public Guardian, and registration typically takes around eight to ten weeks in total once submitted. Making it early means it is ready and waiting rather than needed and missing. Early-stage dementia can still progress unpredictably — sometimes gradually, sometimes with a noticeable step down after an illness or hospital stay — so the safest assumption is that the window is shorter than it feels.

How the certificate provider assesses understanding on the day

The certificate provider's job is narrow but important: to confirm, on the day of signing, that the donor understands what an LPA is, who they are appointing, roughly what powers that gives them, and that the donor is not being pressured into it. This is not a memory test and not a formal medical diagnosis — it is a conversation.

In practice, a good certificate provider will usually speak to the donor alone for part of the conversation, ask them to explain in their own words who the attorneys are and why they chose them, check they know they can cancel the LPA while they still have capacity, and watch for anyone prompting or answering on the donor's behalf. At the early stage of dementia, most donors manage this without difficulty, provided the conversation is unhurried and happens at a good time of day.

Choosing the certificate provider

A friend or neighbour of two years' standing can act as certificate provider if capacity is clearly not in question. Where there is any doubt at all, use a professional — typically the GP — since their confirmation is harder to challenge later.

What to settle in the conversation

Most of the work is deciding, not form-filling. Before starting, it helps to agree:

Who the attorneys are, and whether a replacement should be named
Whether attorneys act jointly and severally (usually more practical) or jointly
Whether to make both LPAs — financial and health — at the same time
On the health LPA, whether attorneys can decide about life-sustaining treatment

Preferences and instructions

Wishes such as "stay at home as long as it is safe" can be recorded as preferences. Instructions are binding and can cause an LPA to be rejected if they are contradictory or unlawful, so we flag wording that is likely to cause a problem.

Timeline from decision to registered LPA

Step	What happens	Typical time
Decide and complete the questions	Donor and family agree attorneys and answer the online questions	Can be done in one sitting or spread over several
Sign	Donor, attorneys and certificate provider sign in the correct order	Usually a few days to arrange
Submit to the OPG	Forms are sent for registration with the £92 fee per LPA	Same day as posting
Statutory notice period	A four-week window during which the LPA can be objected to	4 weeks
Registration complete	The OPG returns the stamped, usable LPA	Around 8 to 10 weeks in total

A worked example

David, 71, was diagnosed with early-stage dementia three months ago. He still drives locally, manages his own bank account, and was clear-headed when his daughter Ruth raised the subject of an LPA over Sunday lunch. They completed both LPAs online across two evenings, and David's long-standing GP acted as certificate provider, spending fifteen minutes alone with him to confirm he understood the decision. The forms were signed within the fortnight and registered about nine weeks later. David has never needed his attorneys to act, but the documents are there for when he does.

Doing it online

We ask the questions the official LP1F and LP1H forms need, one screen at a time, in plain English, and check the answers for the completion errors that commonly cause delay. You can save your progress and finish it over several sittings, which suits a diagnosis where energy and concentration vary. It is £49 for one LPA and £79 for both; see pricing and how it works for the full detail. The OPG registration fee of £92 per document is separate and paid directly to them.

Common questions

How soon should we do this after a diagnosis?

As soon as the donor feels able to make the decisions. There is no benefit in waiting and a real cost to leaving it too long.

Can the LPA be changed later?

While the donor still has capacity they can cancel an LPA and make a new one. Once capacity is lost, no changes are possible.

Will the certificate provider need medical records?

Not usually. The certificate provider's role is to have a conversation and form a view on the day, not to review medical history, though a GP acting in that role will naturally draw on what they already know.

What if the donor gets tired or anxious during the conversation?

There is no need to rush. Pause and try again another day — there is no deadline for the conversation itself, only for acting before the window closes for good.

Where this fits

This page is part of Parents, couples and capacity. The pages below take it further.

Make an LPA online
The whole journey end to end: questions, documents, signing and registration.
What an LPA costs in 2026
Our £49 and £79 prices, the £92 OPG registration fee, and solicitor comparisons.

Helping a parent or partner?

They make the decisions and sign, you can do all the paperwork. Start with the free capacity check.

Check if an LPA is still possible