Jointly or jointly and severally?
The short answer
Do your attorneys get on well and agree about your affairs?
Do they live close enough to sign paperwork together easily?
Would you want them to have to agree before selling your home or making a large gift?
Do you need day-to-day things (bills, benefits, care fees) handled quickly by one of them?
Is there a realistic chance they would fall out and be unable to agree?
Suggested arrangement
Answer all five questions to see a recommendation.
This is general guidance for LPAs in England and Wales, not advice on your particular circumstances.
The three options compared
| Jointly and severally | Jointly | Mixed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can act | Any one attorney alone | All attorneys together, every time | One alone, except listed decisions |
| Speed | Fast | Slow — every signature needed | Fast for routine matters |
| If one attorney dies or loses capacity | The others carry on | The whole appointment fails | The joint part fails; take care with wording |
| Built-in oversight | Low | High | High on the decisions that matter most |
| Risk of OPG rejection | Very low | Very low | Higher — restrictions must be precisely worded |
A worked example
A donor appoints two adult children. Under jointly and severally, either child can pay the care home invoice the week it arrives. Under a joint appointment, both must sign — workable while both are well, but if one child dies before the donor loses capacity and no replacement attorney was named, the LPA is dead and the family faces a Court of Protection deputyship application costing several hundred pounds and taking months.
That single risk is why joint appointments should almost always be paired with a replacement attorney.
Common questions
Can the two LPAs have different arrangements?
Yes. It is common to have financial attorneys act jointly and severally while health and welfare attorneys must act jointly, or the reverse.
What counts as a big decision worth reserving?
Usually selling or mortgaging your home, gifts above a stated amount, and moving investments between providers. Keep the list short and specific — vague wording is the most common reason the OPG queries an LPA.
Where do replacement attorneys fit?
A replacement steps in only when an original attorney can no longer act. See the attorney decision tool for how many attorneys and replacements to name.
Source: GOV.UK — how your attorneys must make decisions.
We word this correctly for you
Choose the arrangement in plain English and we produce the wording the OPG expects. £49 per LPA, or £79 for both.
The Office of the Public Guardian charges a separate £82 to register each LPA.