Lasting Power of Attorney Explained

The two types of LPA

A property and financial affairs LPA allows your attorneys to manage bank accounts, pay bills, deal with investments, handle pensions and, if necessary, sell your home. It can be used with your permission while you still have capacity, which is helpful during illness, hospital stays or extended time abroad.

A health and welfare LPA covers medical treatment, care arrangements and day-to-day matters such as diet and daily routine. It can only be used once you lack capacity. You can also give attorneys authority over life-sustaining treatment decisions, or specifically withhold it. Most people should have both documents in place.

What happens without one

Without an LPA, nobody has automatic authority over your affairs — not your spouse, not your children. Banks freeze accounts, property cannot be sold, and even simple administration becomes impossible. Families are then forced to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order.

That process typically takes many months, costs considerably more than an LPA, and brings ongoing supervision fees and annual reporting. Deputies may also be refused powers an attorney would have had. All of this happens at a point when the family is already coping with illness or decline.

Choosing your attorneys

Attorneys must be over eighteen, and for a financial LPA they must not be bankrupt. Beyond that, choose people who are trustworthy, organised and willing. Consider these points carefully:

• Appoint more than one attorney where possible, plus a replacement
• Decide whether they act jointly, or jointly and severally, for practicality
• Consider geography — an attorney nearby can deal with practical matters faster
• Different people can be appointed for finance and for health and welfare
• Talk to them first; the role carries real duties and responsibilities
• Include guidance or instructions where you have strong preferences

Making and registering the LPA

An LPA must be signed in a set order, with a certificate provider confirming you understand the document and are not under pressure. Errors in the sequence are the most common reason documents are rejected, and the whole form then has to be redone.

The LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. Registration takes time, so it should not be left until the document is needed. Once registered, give copies to your bank, your GP where relevant, and your attorneys, and store the original safely.

What attorneys can and cannot do

Attorneys must act in your best interests, keep their money separate from yours, and keep records. They cannot make large gifts from your assets beyond limited customary amounts without court approval — a point that matters where inheritance tax planning is under way. Any gifting programme you want continued should be set up while you still have capacity.

Attorneys also cannot make a will for you, change your existing will, or override decisions you made while you had capacity. Where more extensive action is needed, an application to the Court of Protection may be required, which is another reason to complete estate planning early.

Fitting the LPA into your plan

An LPA should be prepared alongside your will and your wider estate plan, not as an afterthought. The same review that considers inheritance tax, gifting and trusts should confirm who would act for you, whether they know your wishes, and whether any planning would stall if you became unable to act.

If you do not yet have LPAs in place, it is the single most valuable document to put right. Our advisers can arrange both types alongside a review of your will and estate plan.

Frequently Asked Questions