Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people (your attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the capacity to make them yourself. There are two types: health & welfare, and property & financial affairs.

A health & welfare LPA covers decisions about your medical treatment, daily care, and where you live. A property & financial affairs LPA covers decisions about your bank accounts, bills, property, and investments. Many people choose to create both.

You should set up an LPA while you still have mental capacity to make the decision. If you wait until you lose capacity, it will be too late and your family may need to apply to the Court of Protection instead, which is far more expensive and time-consuming.

Your attorney must be 18 or over and have mental capacity. For a property & finance LPA, they must not be bankrupt. Most people choose a spouse, partner, adult child, or trusted friend. You can appoint more than one attorney and decide whether they act jointly, severally, or jointly for some decisions and severally for others.

Yes. An LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used. You can register it straight away — you do not need to wait until you lose capacity. Registration currently takes 3 to 5 months, so it is worth doing early.

The OPG charges £82 per LPA to register. This is a government fee paid directly to the OPG and is separate from our £29 document creation fee. If you are on a low income or receive certain benefits, you may be eligible for a reduced fee or exemption.

You cannot amend a registered LPA. If you want to make changes, you would need to cancel (revoke) the existing one and create a new LPA. You can revoke an LPA at any time as long as you still have mental capacity.

If you lose capacity without an LPA in place, your family will need to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order. This process costs significantly more, can take 6 to 12 months, and requires ongoing annual supervision fees. An LPA is the simpler and more affordable way to plan ahead.

A certificate provider is an independent person who confirms that you understand your LPA and are not being pressured into making it. They can be someone who has known you well for at least two years, or a professional such as a doctor, solicitor, or social worker. They cannot be one of your appointed attorneys.

Yes. You can appoint multiple attorneys and choose how they work together. "Jointly" means they must all agree on every decision. "Jointly and severally" means they can act together or independently. You can also mix the two, requiring joint decisions for some matters and allowing individual decisions for others.