Lasting Power of Attorney FAQs

An LPA is a legal document that lets you appoint people you trust (your attorneys) to make decisions on your behalf if you are unable to. There are two types: one for property and financial affairs, and one for health and welfare.

A will takes effect after your death and sets out how your assets are distributed. An LPA takes effect during your lifetime if you lose mental capacity. Both are essential parts of a complete estate plan.

Yes. Being married or in a civil partnership does not give your spouse an automatic right to manage your bank accounts or make decisions about your care. Without an LPA, your family may have to apply to the Court of Protection, which is slow and costly.

A property and financial affairs LPA can be used once it is registered, with your permission, even while you still have capacity. A health and welfare LPA can only be used when you are no longer able to make those decisions yourself.

Yes. It must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. The fee is currently £92 per LPA. We can help you complete the forms correctly and register it, which helps avoid delays caused by mistakes.

There is a property and financial affairs LPA, covering money, bank accounts, bills, investments and property, and a health and welfare LPA, covering medical treatment, care, daily routine and where you live.

It lets your attorneys manage your money and property, such as paying bills, dealing with your bank and pension, collecting benefits, and buying or selling your home. It can be used with your permission once registered.

It lets your attorneys make decisions about your healthcare, medical treatment, care arrangements, diet and where you live, but only when you lack the capacity to make those decisions yourself.

Most people make both, because they cover different decisions. Having only a financial LPA means no one has clear authority over care and treatment decisions, and vice versa.

The Office of the Public Guardian fee is £92 per LPA (it rose from £82 on 17 November 2025), so £184 for both types. Professional fees for preparing them are separate.

If your gross annual income is under £12,000, you may pay half the fee (£46). You may be exempt from the fee altogether if you receive certain means-tested benefits. Evidence is required.

From 2 February 2026, receiving Universal Credit no longer automatically qualifies you for an LPA fee exemption or reduction. You may still qualify on low income grounds. Check the current rules on GOV.UK.

The donor is the person who makes the LPA and gives authority to their attorneys. The donor must be 18 or over and have the mental capacity to make it.

Anyone aged 18 or over with mental capacity, whom you trust. It can be a family member, friend or professional. For a financial LPA, an attorney must not be bankrupt or subject to a debt relief order.

There is no legal limit, but most people choose between one and four. Consider how practical it is for several people to work together.

Your attorneys can make decisions together or independently. It is the most flexible option, and if one attorney can no longer act, the others can carry on.

Your attorneys must agree and act together on every decision. If one dies or can no longer act, the LPA stops working unless you have named a replacement. It can be impractical day to day.

Yes. You can say that attorneys act jointly for some decisions (for example selling your home) and jointly and severally for others. Wording must be precise or the OPG may reject it.

A replacement attorney steps in if one of your original attorneys can no longer act, for example because they have died, lost capacity or divorced you.

A certificate provider is an independent person who confirms that you understand the LPA and are not being pressured. They must be someone you have known well for two years, or a professional such as a doctor or solicitor.

Your attorneys, replacement attorneys, family members, your attorneys’ family members, business partners, employees of your care provider and your unmarried partner cannot act as certificate provider.

You can name people who will be told when your LPA is registered so they can raise any concerns. It is optional but adds a safeguard.

As soon as possible, while you have capacity. Accidents and illness can happen at any age, and once capacity is lost it is too late to make an LPA.

Possibly, if you still have the capacity to understand what the LPA is and what it does. Capacity is decision-specific. Act quickly after a diagnosis and consider getting a medical opinion.

Your family would need to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputy to manage your finances. It is slower, more expensive and involves ongoing supervision and fees.

No. “Next of kin” has no legal authority to manage your money or make health decisions. Without an LPA, doctors make best-interests decisions and a deputy may be needed for finances.

Not without legal authority such as a registered LPA or deputyship order. Joint accounts may continue, but banks can restrict them if one holder loses capacity.

Yes. An LPA means someone you trust can deal with care home contracts, your finances and your home if you lose capacity, without needing a court deputyship.

Processing times vary. Registration includes a statutory waiting period during which objections can be raised. Check the current processing time on GOV.UK; applications with errors take longer.

Yes. The Office of the Public Guardian’s online service at GOV.UK lets you create and, increasingly, sign and register LPAs digitally, with identity checks through GOV.UK One Login. A paper route remains available.

The Act modernises how LPAs are made and registered, allowing a more digital process, identity checks for donors and attorneys, and new safeguards against fraud and abuse. Changes are being introduced in stages.

No, you can make one yourself. Many people use a professional to avoid mistakes that lead to rejection, to get guidance on wording and to help if capacity may later be questioned.

Common reasons include pages signed in the wrong order, missing signatures or dates, unclear or unworkable instructions, and incorrect use of “jointly” and “jointly and severally”.

Yes, an LPA can be registered at any time while you are alive, but it cannot be used until it is registered. Registering straight away avoids delays when it is needed.

Either the donor or the attorneys can apply to register it.

The OPG sends confirmation and the LPA can be used. Attorneys can share it with organisations using an online access code or a certified copy.

A certified copy is a photocopy of each page signed by the donor or a solicitor confirming it is a true copy. Banks and other organisations may ask for one.

It is a free GOV.UK online service where attorneys can create an access code to share a registered LPA with banks, care homes, GPs and other organisations, instead of posting paper copies.

Yes. While you have capacity you can revoke an LPA by making a deed of revocation and telling your attorneys and the OPG.

Yes. An LPA automatically ends when the donor dies. The executors named in the will then take over.

No. An attorney cannot make or change a will on your behalf. If you lack capacity, an application for a statutory will must be made to the Court of Protection.

Only in limited circumstances. Attorneys can make small, customary gifts on occasions such as birthdays and weddings, reasonable given your estate. Larger gifts need Court of Protection approval.

A property and financial affairs attorney can sell your home if it is in your best interests, for example to pay for your care, unless you have restricted this in the LPA.

Professional attorneys can charge if the LPA says so. Family attorneys can only claim reasonable out-of-pocket expenses unless you have agreed payment in the LPA.

Attorneys must follow the Mental Capacity Act 2005 principles, act in your best interests, keep your money separate from theirs, keep records and accounts, respect confidentiality and follow any instructions in the LPA.

A person is assumed to have capacity unless shown otherwise, must be helped to make their own decisions, can make unwise decisions, any decision made for them must be in their best interests, and the least restrictive option should be chosen.

Best interests means considering the person’s past and present wishes, feelings, beliefs and values, consulting relevant people, and choosing what is best for them, not what is easiest for others.

Yes. Instructions are binding, such as “my home must not be sold while my spouse lives there”. Preferences are non-binding wishes. Unworkable instructions can cause the LPA to be rejected.

Preferences are wishes you would like attorneys to take into account, such as “I would like to stay at home as long as possible”. They are not legally binding.

Yes. Many people choose their spouse or partner, often alongside adult children or a replacement, in case the spouse also becomes unwell.

Yes, if they are 18 or over. Choosing more than one child can spread the load and provide a check on decisions.

If you appointed replacements, they step in. If attorneys acted jointly and severally, the others can continue. If a sole or joint attorney dies without replacements, the LPA may stop working.

If your spouse or civil partner is your attorney, divorce or dissolution ends their appointment unless the LPA says otherwise. A replacement or co-attorney can then continue.

Yes. A solicitor or other professional can act and charge fees. This can suit people without suitable family or with complex affairs.

Yes, but it may be impractical, especially for health and welfare decisions. Choose someone who can realistically act when needed.

Your parent must make it themselves while they have capacity. You can help arrange it and act as their attorney. If they have already lost capacity, a deputyship application may be needed.

Not automatically. Some countries recognise an English LPA, but many require local documents. If you own property or spend time abroad, take local advice.

An EPA is the older form of power of attorney made before 1 October 2007. Existing EPAs remain valid but cover financial matters only and must be registered once the donor starts to lose capacity.

Yes, if it was properly made before 1 October 2007. It must be registered with the OPG when the donor is, or is becoming, mentally incapable. It does not cover health decisions.

An ordinary (general) power of attorney lets someone handle your finances for a limited time or purpose, for example while you are abroad. It stops working if you lose capacity.

An ordinary power of attorney ends if you lose capacity. An LPA is designed to continue, and to be used, when you have lost capacity.

Yes. A separate property and financial affairs LPA can cover business assets, so a different attorney with business knowledge can run the business if you lose capacity.

Yes. Some people make one LPA for personal finances and another for business affairs, with different attorneys for each.

The OPG is the government agency that registers LPAs and EPAs, supervises court-appointed deputies and investigates concerns about attorneys and deputies in England and Wales.

You can search the OPG register by completing form OPG100. It confirms whether an LPA or EPA is registered and some details about it.

Contact the Office of the Public Guardian, which can investigate. If a crime is suspected, report it to the police. Urgent safeguarding concerns can also go to the local authority.

The Court of Protection can remove an attorney if they are not acting in the donor’s best interests. The OPG can investigate and apply to the court.

Yes. People to notify, attorneys and others can object during the waiting period on factual grounds (such as the donor has died) or prescribed grounds (such as fraud or pressure).

The other holder can often continue using the account, but banks may restrict it. An LPA or deputyship avoids problems, especially for accounts in sole names.

Yes, a property and financial affairs attorney can sign contracts on your behalf, including care home agreements, if in your best interests.

Yes. Attorneys must keep records of decisions and financial transactions and keep your money separate from their own. The OPG or court can ask to see them.

A health and welfare attorney can decide where you live if you lack capacity to decide. A financial attorney can pay for accommodation but not decide where you live.

Only if you gave them that specific authority in section 5 of your health and welfare LPA. Otherwise doctors decide in your best interests.

Option A gives your attorneys authority to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment for you. Option B keeps that decision with your doctors. You must choose one.

No. Organ donation decisions are governed by the Human Tissue Act and your registered choice. Attorneys’ authority ends on death.

A health and welfare attorney can access medical records needed to make decisions once you lack capacity. A financial attorney does not have that right.

Attorneys must respect your right to make your own decisions whenever you can, even if they seem unwise. They only decide for you when you lack capacity for that decision.

A financial LPA can be used with your permission once registered, which is helpful if you have mobility or health problems. A health and welfare LPA can only be used when you lack capacity.

If they act jointly and severally, one can act alone. If they must act jointly, they need to agree. Serious disputes may need to go to the Court of Protection.

It can be registered at any time, but registering early means it is ready when needed and any errors can be corrected while you can still sign a new one.

The OPG will tell you. Some errors can be fixed; others make it invalid. If you still have capacity you can make a new one; a resubmission fee may apply.

You cannot change a registered LPA. You would revoke it and make a new one, or make an additional LPA. Some changes, such as a change of address, are simply notified to the OPG.

No. LPAs are for England and Wales. Scotland uses continuing and welfare powers of attorney, and Northern Ireland uses enduring powers of attorney (with reform planned).

Yes. A property and financial affairs attorney can deal with your pensions, including State Pension, subject to DWP and provider requirements.

A financial attorney can deal with benefits. Alternatively, DWP can appoint an “appointee” to manage state benefits only.

An appointee is someone authorised by the Department for Work and Pensions to manage another person’s benefits when they cannot manage them. It only covers benefits, not other finances.

Yes, but they must act prudently and in your best interests, and take advice for significant investments. Discretionary investment management may need specific authority in the LPA.

A financial attorney can deal with online banking and financial accounts. Access to email and social media depends on the provider’s terms; attorneys must not simply use your passwords.

Yes, if you have capacity. Your certificate provider must be satisfied that you understand the LPA, and your signature must be witnessed by an adult who is not one of your attorneys.

The donor’s signature must be witnessed by someone over 18 who is not an attorney or replacement attorney. Attorneys’ signatures must be witnessed by someone other than the donor.

The donor signs first, then the certificate provider, then the attorneys and replacements. Signing in the wrong order is a common reason for rejection.

Yes. Attorneys and replacement attorneys must sign to confirm they understand their responsibilities, after the donor and certificate provider.

An LPA remains valid for the donor’s lifetime unless revoked, or ended by bankruptcy (for financial LPAs) or the loss of all attorneys.

The donor’s bankruptcy ends a property and financial affairs LPA. An attorney’s bankruptcy ends their appointment for a financial LPA.

No. You can choose friends or professionals. What matters is trust, reliability and willingness to act.

It helps, especially for health and welfare decisions, but is not essential for financial matters that can be dealt with online.

You can appoint a professional such as a solicitor. If no one is appointed and you lose capacity, the court can appoint a panel deputy.

A health and welfare attorney can, if it is in your best interests and you lack capacity to decide. They must consider your wishes.

A health and welfare attorney can make decisions about contact only in your best interests, and must take account of your wishes and relationships.

A financial attorney can usually access your safe deposit box once the LPA is registered, subject to the bank’s procedures.

An attorney signs in their own name, stating they are acting as attorney for you. They should not sign your name.

Yes. You can add an instruction, but consider whether it could prevent a sale needed to fund your care.

Without one, doctors and care professionals make best-interests decisions, consulting family. An LPA gives your chosen people legal authority.

The modernised LPA service includes identity checks for donors and certificate providers, often through GOV.UK One Login, to prevent fraud.

Existing registered LPAs remain valid. The OPG continues to accept paper applications for people who cannot use the online service.

Yes, a financial attorney can pay for your pets’ care, and arrangements can be made in your best interests.

Yes. You could appoint one set of attorneys for finances and another for health and welfare, using separate LPAs.

Yes. A financial attorney can deal with HMRC on the donor’s behalf once HMRC has registered the LPA on their records.

Banks should accept a valid registered LPA. Many have dedicated teams. If a bank refuses without good reason, you can complain and escalate to the Financial Ombudsman.

Yes, a financial attorney can open accounts in the donor’s name for their benefit.

Only if it is in the donor’s best interests, for example to buy somewhere suitable for them to live.

Yes. A GP or other health professional can act as certificate provider under the professional category.

You must be at least 18. There is no upper age limit, as long as you have capacity.

Nothing changes. Your LPA remains valid and your attorneys can continue to act.

Decide who your attorneys and replacements are, how they should act, who will be your certificate provider, any instructions or preferences, and whether to give authority over life-sustaining treatment.

Yes. You can add preferences such as wishing to stay at home, dietary or religious needs, and instructions on specific decisions.

A health and welfare attorney can consent to or refuse treatment on your behalf when you lack capacity, within the limits of your LPA.

Attorneys should show the registered LPA to organisations they deal with. They do not need to notify family, but consulting others is good practice.

Yes. Attorneys who act dishonestly or negligently can be required to repay losses, removed by the court or prosecuted.

Yes, using carefully worded instructions for when attorneys act jointly or jointly and severally.

Usually around an hour, including discussing your choices of attorneys and any instructions.

The Court of Protection makes decisions for people in England and Wales who lack mental capacity, including appointing deputies, approving statutory wills and gifts, and resolving disputes about attorneys.

A deputy is someone appointed by the Court of Protection to make decisions for a person who lacks capacity and has no valid LPA. Most deputies manage property and financial affairs.

It commonly takes several months, and can take longer if the application is contested or incomplete. During that time bills may go unpaid, which is why LPAs are recommended.

There is a Court of Protection application fee, possibly a hearing fee, the cost of a medical capacity assessment, a security bond premium each year and annual OPG supervision fees. Legal fees can add significantly more.

A security bond is an insurance policy the deputy must usually buy to protect the person’s money if the deputy mismanages it. The premium is paid annually from the person’s funds.

Yes. Deputies are supervised by the Office of the Public Guardian and must usually submit an annual report and accounts, and pay an annual supervision fee.

Generally yes. An LPA lets you choose who acts, is cheaper and quicker, and avoids ongoing court supervision. A deputy is chosen by the court and is more restricted.

Yes, but it is less common. The court prefers to make individual health and welfare decisions itself and only appoints welfare deputies in exceptional cases.

The Mental Capacity Act test asks whether the person can understand relevant information, retain it, use or weigh it, and communicate a decision. Capacity is assessed for each specific decision at the time it is needed.

Yes. Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific. A person may be able to decide what to eat but not manage complex investments.

Some conditions cause capacity to come and go. Decisions should, where possible, be made at a time when the person has capacity, and they should be supported to decide for themselves.

The person who needs the decision to be made, such as a doctor for treatment or a solicitor for a will, assesses capacity. For complex matters a specialist assessment may be obtained.

An application to the Court of Protection asking it to make or amend a will for someone who lacks testamentary capacity. The court considers what is in their best interests.

DoLS protect people who lack capacity and are deprived of their liberty in a care home or hospital, by requiring independent authorisation. A replacement system (Liberty Protection Safeguards) has been delayed.

An advance decision (sometimes called a living will) lets you refuse specific medical treatments in the future if you lose capacity. It is legally binding if valid and applicable.

An advance decision to refuse treatment is legally binding in England and Wales if it is valid and applies to the situation. For life-sustaining treatment it must be in writing, signed, witnessed and state that it applies even if your life is at risk.

An advance decision sets out treatments you refuse. A health and welfare LPA appoints people to make wider decisions for you. A later LPA with authority over the same treatment can override an earlier advance decision.

An advance statement records your wishes, beliefs and preferences for future care, such as food, religion or where you want to be cared for. It is not legally binding but must be taken into account.

A DNACPR (do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is a clinical decision recorded by doctors. You can discuss your wishes, and a valid advance decision can refuse CPR, but you cannot demand treatment doctors consider inappropriate.

ReSPECT is a process used in many areas that records personalised recommendations for emergency care and treatment, created with your clinicians. It helps guide professionals in an emergency.