Lasting powers of attorney: a plain-English guide
A lasting power of attorney lets people you trust help with important decisions if you can no longer make them yourself. Putting one in place can bring real reassurance to you and your family.
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 allow 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 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 is better not to leave it too late
An LPA can only be made while you have mental capacity. If that window passes, and the alternative is a deputyship application to the Court of Protection, which can mean months of delay, an application fee, an annual supervision fee, a security bond and decisions made under court supervision. Meanwhile the bank will not talk to your spouse, and the house cannot be sold. The cost difference runs into thousands.
Choosing attorneys
- Pick people who are trustworthy with money and available in practice, not whoever is oldest or nearest.
- Appointing attorneys jointly means every decision needs all of them and one attorney dropping out can invalidate the LPA; jointly and severally is more robust for most families.
- Name replacement attorneys. People die, move abroad, and fall ill.
- Use the preferences and instructions sections sparingly, because badly worded instructions are a common reason the Office of the Public Guardian rejects an application.
Registration and fees
An LPA has no legal effect until it is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, which takes several weeks even when everything is in order. The OPG charges its own registration fee per LPA, separate from 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: £199 for one LPA, £349 for two, and £549 for all four LPAs for a couple. Full price list.
Common mistakes
- Making the financial LPA and skipping health and welfare.
- Signing pages in the wrong order. The certificate provider must sign after the donor and before the attorneys.
- Assuming a registered LPA covers a business as well as personal affairs.
- Never telling the attorneys where the original is kept.