A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone you trust to make decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. There are two types, one for your finances and one for your health and care. You can only set one up while you still have the mental capacity to do so.
Most people I sit with have come to talk about a will. Somewhere in the conversation I ask whether they have thought about a Lasting Power of Attorney, and very often they have not. It is the less familiar of the two documents, and in some ways it is the one that matters most while you are still here. A will speaks for you after you die. A Lasting Power of Attorney speaks for you if you are alive but no longer able to manage your own affairs.
I have written a good many of these over the years, and I have also seen what happens to families who never got round to it. So let me set out, in plain terms, what an LPA is, how the two types work, and why I would gently encourage anyone over forty to put one in place.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney, usually shortened to LPA, is a legal document. In it you name one or more people, called your attorneys, and give them the authority to make decisions on your behalf if a day comes when you cannot make those decisions yourself. That day might arrive suddenly, after an accident or a stroke, or slowly, through an illness such as dementia.
The person making the LPA is called the donor. That is you. The people you appoint are your attorneys, and despite the name they do not need to be lawyers. They are simply the people you trust to act for you. An LPA replaced the older Enduring Power of Attorney back in 2007, and it is registered with a government body called the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. You can read more about how we handle this in our guide to what a Lasting Power of Attorney is.
The two types explained
This is the part people most often get muddled, so it is worth being clear. There are two separate LPAs, and they cover two different sides of your life. Most people who set one up choose to set up both, because losing capacity affects both your money and your care.
Property and Financial Affairs
This one covers the money side of things. It lets your attorney manage your bank accounts, pay your bills, deal with your pension and benefits, and, if it comes to it, sell your house. If you are in hospital for a long spell, or no longer able to keep on top of the post, this is the document that lets someone step in and keep the roof over your head and the direct debits paid.
A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used as soon as it is registered, if you give your permission, or only once you have lost capacity. You decide which when you make it.
Health and Welfare
This one covers decisions about you rather than your money. Where you live, the care you receive, the medical treatment you are given, your daily routine, even matters as personal as your diet. It also lets you give your attorney the authority to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment on your behalf, though only if you specifically choose to grant that.
A Health and Welfare LPA is different in one important way. It can only ever be used once you have lost the capacity to make the decision yourself. While you can still decide, the decision stays with you.
Why everyone over 40 should have one
People tend to file an LPA under things to sort out in old age. I understand why. But loss of capacity is not something that only visits the elderly. A car accident, a stroke, a sudden illness, a bad fall. These can happen to a person of any age, and when they do they rarely give notice.
That is the point I try to make. A will is for when you die, and none of us knows the date. An LPA is for a gap that can open up long before that, at any age, and close over again with no warning. Setting one up at forty is not gloomy. It is simply sensible, in the same way as insuring your house against a fire you do not expect.
You can only make an LPA while you have the capacity to understand it. Once that capacity has gone, the door is shut, and your family is left with a far harder and dearer route.
Who to choose as your attorney
Your attorney can be your husband or wife, a grown-up child, another relative or a trusted friend. You can appoint more than one, which many people do, and you can say whether they must act together on everything or whether they can act separately. You can also name a replacement, in case your first choice is unable to act when the time comes.
The qualities that matter are not clever ones. You want somebody honest, somebody sensible with money if it is the financial LPA, and somebody who will actually do what you would have wanted rather than what is easiest for them. Have a proper conversation with them first. Being an attorney is a real responsibility, and nobody should learn they hold the job by surprise.
How an LPA is made and registered
Making an LPA runs through a few steps. You decide on your attorneys and how they should act. The forms are completed. A person called a certificate provider, someone independent who has known you or has the right skills, confirms that you understand what you are signing and that no one has pressured you into it. Then you, your attorneys and your witnesses sign, in the correct order, which is where a good many home-made LPAs come unstuck.
The completed document then has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. Registration takes a number of weeks, and the Office charges a fee of £92 for each document. That fee is paid to them, not to me. It is worth registering an LPA promptly rather than tucking it in a drawer, because it cannot be used at all until registration is complete, and you do not want to be waiting on the paperwork in a crisis.
What happens if you don't have one
This is the part I most want people to understand. If you lose capacity without an LPA in place, your family cannot simply step in. Not your spouse, not your children. However close they are, they have no automatic legal right to manage your money or make decisions about your care.
Instead, someone has to apply to a body called the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy. It is slower, it costs a great deal more, and it comes with ongoing supervision and annual fees for as long as it lasts. All the while, your bank accounts may be frozen and bills may go unpaid. I have set out the full comparison in our piece on LPA versus deputyship, and the short version is that an LPA made in good time saves your family the whole ordeal.
A lady came to see me a couple of years back about her father. He had had a serious stroke and could no longer speak or manage anything for himself. She had assumed that, as his only daughter, she could deal with his bank and his care home fees. She could not. There was no LPA, so she was left applying to the Court of Protection, which took the better part of a year and cost several times what an LPA would have done. Her father, sadly, could no longer sign one. That is the situation I would spare people, and it is entirely avoidable while there is still time.
How much does it cost
At Choice Wills I keep this simple. A single LPA is £285 per document. If you want both types, which most people sensibly do, it is £525 for the pair. That is a fixed fee, agreed before I start, with no surprises added later.
On top of my fee sits the Office of the Public Guardian's registration charge of £92 for each document. So the registration is a separate, unavoidable cost, and I always make that plain from the outset so you know exactly where you stand. You can see the full range of our fees on the Lasting Power of Attorney page.
When an LPA can be used
The two types differ here, and it is worth repeating. A Health and Welfare LPA can only be used once you have lost the capacity to make a particular decision for yourself. Until that point, every decision remains yours.
A Property and Financial Affairs LPA is more flexible. You can allow it to be used as soon as it is registered, with your ongoing permission, which some people find helpful if, say, they travel a lot or find managing the banking a chore. Or you can restrict it so that it only comes into effect if you lose capacity. The choice is yours, and I will talk you through which suits your circumstances.
Common questions
What are the two types of LPA?
There are two. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA covers your money, bank accounts, bills and property. A Health and Welfare LPA covers decisions about your medical care, where you live and your daily routine. They are separate documents and most people set up both.
When can a Lasting Power of Attorney be used?
A Health and Welfare LPA can only be used once you have lost the capacity to make a decision yourself. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used as soon as it is registered, with your permission, or later if you lose capacity. You choose which applies when you set it up.
How much does an LPA cost?
At Choice Wills a single LPA is £285 per document, or £525 for both types together, agreed as a fixed fee. On top of that the Office of the Public Guardian charges a £92 registration fee for each document, which is paid to them, not to me.
Can I set up an LPA for my parent?
No. An LPA can only be made by the person themselves, while they still have the mental capacity to understand it. You cannot make one on a parent's behalf. If they have already lost capacity, the only route is to apply to the Court of Protection to become their deputy.
Do I need a solicitor to make an LPA?
No. You do not need a solicitor. Many people use a will writer or complete the forms themselves. The value in using someone experienced is getting the wording and the choices right, so the document works when your family actually needs it rather than being rejected.