Lasting powers of attorney: a plain-English guide
A lasting power of attorney lets people you trust step in and help with important decisions if you ever can't make them yourself. It's an easy thing to put off, and it brings real peace of mind once it's done.
Last reviewed August 2026
The two types
- Property and financial affairs. Lets your attorneys deal with bank accounts, bills, investments, pensions and, if necessary, selling your home. It can be used while you still have capacity, if you're happy with that.
- Health and welfare. Covers medical treatment, care arrangements and where you live. It can only be used once you lack capacity, and you decide separately whether your attorneys can consent to or refuse life-sustaining treatment.
Most people should have both. A couple who each make both have four LPAs between them.
Why it's worth not leaving it too late
An LPA can only be made while you have mental capacity. Once that window closes, the only option is a deputyship application to the Court of Protection: months of waiting, an application fee, an annual supervision fee, a security bond, and decisions made under court supervision. All the while, the bank won't talk to your husband or wife and the house can't be sold. It costs thousands more than simply putting an LPA in place now.
Choosing attorneys
- Pick people who are good with money and genuinely available, not whoever's oldest or lives nearest.
- Appointing attorneys jointly means every decision needs all of them, and if one drops out the LPA can stop working. Jointly and severally is more robust for most families.
- Name replacement attorneys. People move abroad, fall ill, and sometimes die.
- Go easy on the preferences and instructions sections. Badly worded instructions are one of the most common reasons the Office of the Public Guardian rejects an application.
Registration and fees
An LPA doesn't do anything until it's registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, which takes several weeks even when everything's in order. The OPG charges its own registration fee for each LPA, on top of any drafting fee, with reductions or exemptions for people on a low income or certain benefits. The current figures are on GOV.UK.
Our drafting fees: £120 for one LPA, £200 for two, and £350 for all four LPAs for a couple. There may also be OPG registration fees, currently £92 per LPA. Full price list.
Common mistakes
- Making the financial LPA but skipping health and welfare.
- Signing pages in the wrong order. The certificate provider must sign after you and before your attorneys.
- Assuming a registered LPA covers a business as well as your personal affairs.
- Never telling the attorneys where the original is kept.