Lasting Power of Attorney: Property and Financial Affairs

A Lasting Power of Attorney for property and financial affairs gives your appointed attorney(s) the authority to make decisions about your finances and property. This is a broad authority that can cover:

• Bank and building society accounts: Making withdrawals, setting up direct debits, managing online banking
• Property: Buying, selling, or renting out property on your behalf
• Investments: Managing stocks, shares, ISAs, and other investment portfolios
• Bills and outgoings: Paying utility bills, council tax, mortgage, rent, and other regular payments
• Benefits and tax credits: Claiming and managing state benefits, pensions, and tax credits
• Business interests: Managing a business on your behalf if you own one

A property and financial affairs LPA does not cover decisions about your health or medical treatment, your care arrangements, or your day-to-day welfare. Those decisions require a separate Health and Welfare LPA, which operates under different rules (it can only be used when you lack capacity to make the decision yourself).

The two types of LPA are entirely separate documents, each requiring its own registration. If you want both, you must complete and register both separately — at a cost of £82 each (£164 in total as of 2025).

An LPA is not valid until it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). The registration fee is currently £82 per LPA. If you are making both a property LPA and a health LPA, the total cost is £164. People with an annual income under £12,000 may be entitled to a 50% fee reduction (£41 per LPA); those receiving certain means-tested benefits may be exempt from the fee entirely.

The registration process:

1. Complete the LPA form: Use the government's online LPA tool (on GOV.UK) or the paper forms. The form requires the donor's details, attorney details, and the signature of a certificate provider — an independent person who confirms you understand the LPA and are not being pressured to make it.
2. Notify people: You can name up to five people who must be notified when the LPA is registered. They have 3 weeks to raise any concerns with the OPG.
3. Sign in the correct order: The LPA must be signed in a specific order — donor, certificate provider, then attorneys — and all signatures must be witnessed. Errors in signing are a common reason for LPAs being rejected by the OPG.
4. Submit to the OPG: Send the completed form and the registration fee to the OPG. Currently, the OPG states a processing time of around 20 weeks.

Given the long processing time, it is strongly advisable to register an LPA as soon as possible — ideally while you are in good health and your capacity is not in question. If you wait until you are starting to lose capacity, delays in registration could leave you unprotected.

One of the key differences between a property and financial affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA is when it can be used. A health and welfare LPA can only be used once the donor lacks mental capacity to make the specific decision. A property and financial affairs LPA can be used as soon as it is registered — even if the donor still has full mental capacity — subject to the donor's consent.

This can be extremely useful in practical situations: for example, if you are overseas for an extended period, temporarily incapacitated after an accident but still legally capable, or simply find managing your finances difficult due to illness or disability. With your consent, your attorney can act on your behalf even though you could technically still manage your own affairs.

The donor retains full authority to manage their own affairs alongside the attorney — the attorney's authority is additional, not exclusive. However, once capacity is genuinely lost, the attorney takes over and the donor's instructions are no longer valid.

If you do not want your attorney to be able to act while you still have capacity, you can restrict the LPA to take effect only when you lack capacity — but this restriction must be clearly stated in the LPA document at the time of signing. You cannot add it later.

An attorney under a property and financial affairs LPA must be 18 or over and have mental capacity. Attorneys are usually close family members or trusted friends. You can also appoint a professional attorney — such as a solicitor — though this carries fees.

If you appoint more than one attorney, you can specify whether they must act jointly (all must agree on every decision), jointly and severally (any one attorney can act alone), or jointly for some decisions and severally for others. Joint and several is most practical for day-to-day financial management; joint is most appropriate where you want a safeguard on major decisions.

You should also appoint replacement attorneys who step in if a primary attorney dies, loses capacity, or is removed. Without replacements, the LPA may fail if your primary attorney can no longer act.

Attorney duties: Attorneys must act in the donor's best interests, following the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice. They must keep the donor's money strictly separate from their own, keep accounts and records, and not benefit financially from the role unless the LPA specifically authorises it (or a court permits it). Attorneys can be removed by the Court of Protection for misconduct — financial abuse by attorneys is a serious and unfortunately not uncommon problem.