Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document appointing people you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you lose mental capacity. Two types exist: property and financial affairs LPAs covering financial decisions, and health and welfare LPAs covering medical and care decisions. LPAs must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before use. They give your chosen attorneys legal authority to act for you without court applications, providing protection and control if you cannot make decisions yourself.

If you lose mental capacity without an LPA, your family cannot automatically manage your finances or make care decisions for you. They must apply to the Court of Protection for deputyship, a costly and time-consuming process with ongoing court supervision. LPAs are quicker, cheaper, and more flexible. They let you choose who makes decisions, give specific instructions, and avoid court involvement. Everyone over 18 should consider making LPAs, whatever their age or health.

Choose people you trust completely who are responsible, organised, and willing to act. Consider their age, health, location, and relationship with other family members. Many people appoint spouses, adult children, siblings, or close friends. You can appoint multiple attorneys to act jointly (all must agree), jointly and severally (they can act independently), or jointly for some decisions and jointly and severally for others. We recommend naming replacement attorneys in case your first choices cannot act when needed.

Property and financial affairs LPAs allow attorneys to manage finances, pay bills, access bank accounts, sell property, claim benefits, and make investment decisions. They can be used as soon as registered if you authorise this, or only when you lack capacity. Health and welfare LPAs allow attorneys to make decisions about medical treatment, care home placement, daily care, and life-sustaining treatment. They can only be used when you lack capacity to make the specific health or welfare decision in question.

Contact us for our current LPA fees. We offer a reduced rate when you make both types of LPA together. The Office of the Public Guardian charges a registration fee per LPA, though reductions apply for those on lower incomes. Contact us for a full breakdown of costs including legal fees, registration fees, and VAT. This is significantly less than the cost of a Court of Protection deputyship application if you were to lose capacity without LPAs in place.

A property and financial affairs LPA can take effect as soon as it is registered if you authorise this in the document. This allows attorneys to help you manage finances while you still have capacity. Alternatively, you can restrict it to only take effect when you lack capacity. A health and welfare LPA can only be used when you lack capacity to make the specific decision in question. Capacity is assessed on a decision-by-decision basis by a doctor or healthcare professional.

We aim to prepare your LPA documents promptly once we have all the information we need. Once signed and witnessed, we submit them to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) for registration. The OPG’s processing time for registrations varies. We’ll keep you updated on progress. You cannot use the LPA until it is registered. We recommend making LPAs well in advance rather than waiting, as you must have mental capacity at the time of making them. If capacity is lost before registration, it may be too late.