Should I appoint a replacement attorney?
In almost every case, yes. A replacement attorney costs nothing extra to add, takes a few minutes on the form, and is the difference between an LPA that survives an attorney dying or falling ill and one that collapses, leaving your family to apply to the Court of Protection at exactly the moment they can least afford the delay.
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.
Who genuinely does not need one
The only donors who can reasonably skip a replacement are those who have appointed three or more attorneys jointly and severally, all in good health and of varying ages, so the chance of all of them being unable to act is remote. Everyone else benefits from naming at least one.
When it matters most
- You are appointing a single attorney with nobody else named
- You are appointing a spouse or partner close to your own age
- Your attorneys are appointed jointly for all or some decisions, so one gap ends everything for that decision
- Your attorney lives abroad, has health problems of their own, or is elderly
- You want the LPA to still work reliably in twenty or thirty years' time
A replacement attorney steps in only when an original attorney can no longer act — through death, loss of mental capacity, formal resignation (disclaiming), bankruptcy on a financial LPA, or the end of a marriage or civil partnership where a spouse was the attorney. Until one of those events happens, a replacement has no authority at all.
What happens with and without one
| Scenario | With a replacement named | Without a replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Sole attorney dies | Replacement takes over immediately | LPA ends; deputyship may be needed |
| One of several joint attorneys dies | Replacement steps in; LPA continues | The whole LPA fails, even for the survivors |
| One of several jointly-and-severally attorneys dies | Only relevant if all others are also gone | Survivors simply carry on regardless |
| Attorney loses capacity | Replacement steps in | Same failure risk as death, above |
How replacements are added, in order
- Decide who to name — often a younger relative or a second sibling not already appointed
- Add them in the replacement attorneys section of the LPA form (section 4 on LP1F/LP1H)
- Decide whether they replace all original attorneys or a specific one — the form lets you specify
- The replacement signs the LPA themselves, in the same way as the original attorneys
- Register the LPA as normal — replacements do not add a separate registration fee
Keep the wording simple
Detailed schemes of replacement — chains of several people, conditions about who replaces whom in what order — are a common cause of the OPG querying or rejecting an LPA. A single named replacement, or two, covers almost every real situation.
Cost
Adding a replacement attorney does not change the price: £49 for one LPA, £79 for both, with the Office of the Public Guardian's £92 registration fee per document payable separately to them. There is no extra charge for naming one, two, or a small handful of replacements.
Worked example
Diane, 74, is widowed and appoints her only daughter, Kate, as her sole attorney on both LPAs. Diane also names Kate's husband, Tom, as replacement attorney. Two years later Kate is seriously injured in a car accident and cannot act. Because Tom was named as replacement, he takes over Diane's affairs without any court process. Had Diane left the replacement box empty, Diane's family would have needed to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputy — typically taking many months and costing considerably more than the LPA itself.
Common questions
Can a replacement attorney act alongside the originals?
No. They only take over once an original attorney can no longer act — they have no power to act at the same time as the originals.
How many replacements can I name?
There is no fixed limit, but one or two is usually enough and keeps the document straightforward to complete and for the OPG to process.
Can I choose which attorney a replacement steps in for?
Yes. The form allows you to specify that a replacement steps in for a particular original attorney, rather than replacing all of them once none can act.
Does naming a replacement slow down registration?
No. It adds a small amount of extra detail to the form but does not affect the OPG's registration timescale, which is typically around eight to ten weeks either way.
Read next
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.
Making your own LPA?
Name your attorneys, set how they must decide together, and we prepare the forms for £49.
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.