Lasting Power of Attorney

There are two distinct types of Lasting Power of Attorney:

1. Property and Financial Affairs LPA

This lets your attorney manage your financial matters, including accessing bank accounts, paying bills, selling your home, and managing investments. This type can be used while you still have capacity (if you choose) as well as if you lose capacity. It is useful for practical reasons even before capacity becomes an issue — for example, if you are ill and cannot travel to a bank.

2. Health and Welfare LPA

This lets your attorney make decisions about your medical treatment and personal welfare, such as where you live, what medical care you receive, and day-to-day care needs. This type can only be used once you have lost mental capacity. You can include a specific provision allowing or refusing your attorney the power to consent to or refuse life-sustaining treatment on your behalf.

Most people benefit from making both types. Each must be registered separately.

You can create an LPA online using the OPG's digital service at gov.uk/power-of-attorney, or by completing paper forms (LP1F for finance, LP1H for health and welfare). Both methods then require the forms to be signed in a specific order and witnessed.

The LPA must be signed by:

1. You (the donor) — signed in the presence of a witness;
2. A certificate provider — an independent person (such as a solicitor, GP, or someone who has known you for at least two years) who confirms that you understand the LPA and are not being pressured into making it;
3. Your attorney(s) — signing to confirm they understand their responsibilities.

You can name more than one attorney and can specify whether they must act jointly (together) or jointly and severally (independently of each other). You can also name a replacement attorney in case your first choice is unable to act.

An LPA has no legal effect until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). You should register it as soon as possible after making it — registration currently takes around 20 weeks. The registration fee is £82 per LPA (so £164 for both types).

Fee remission is available if you or your attorney receive means-tested benefits, or if your income is below £12,000 per year. You pay a reduced fee of £41, or nothing at all if your gross annual income is below £12,000.

Once registered, the OPG returns the original to you stamped with a validation stamp. Attorneys should keep certified copies, as institutions (banks, hospitals) will need to see the original or a certified copy before acting on it.

If you lose mental capacity without an LPA in place, your family and friends have no automatic legal right to manage your finances or make decisions about your care — even a spouse. They would need to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, which is a lengthy, expensive, and often distressing process that can take six to twelve months and costs several thousand pounds.

A deputyship is ongoing and involves annual reporting requirements and supervision fees paid to the OPG. It is significantly more burdensome than an LPA. This is why making an LPA now — while you can — is strongly recommended.

If you are concerned about financial abuse, the OPG has powers to investigate attorneys and deputies. You can also notify the OPG of concerns about someone who may be acting improperly under an LPA.