Lasting powers of attorney
The documents that let people you trust make decisions about your money or your medical care if you ever become unable to make them yourself — and the review or revocation of ones you already have.
Last updated
What it costs
- Lasting Powers of Attorney
- From £275 (plus OPG fees)
- LPA Reviews & Revocations
- From £95
Quoted in writing before you commit to anything, and the price includes the signing visit to your home anywhere in Kent and East Sussex — no travel charge, and no extra for an evening or a weekend.
Right for you if: you want to choose who decides for you, rather than leaving your family to apply to a court for permission.
An LPA is the document nobody thinks about until the week it turns out they needed it two years ago. It is also, in my experience, the piece of work that most reliably saves a family from a genuinely awful few months.
The two types, and why most people want both
Property and financial affairs. Paying the bills, running the bank accounts, dealing with pensions and benefits, managing investments, selling a house. This is the one banks and building societies want to see, and it is the one whose absence causes an immediate practical crisis — because the direct debits do not stop just because you can no longer authorise them.
Health and welfare. Where you live, what care you receive, day-to-day matters like diet and routine, and — only if you specifically give the power — decisions about life-sustaining treatment. This one can only ever be used once you lack the capacity to make the decision yourself.
They are separate documents, separately registered. Most people benefit from having both, and a couple usually wants all four between them.
What you’re actually deciding
Who your attorneys are. People you trust with your money and your person, which is not always the same as people you love. They should be willing, reasonably organised, and likely to outlive you or be replaced by someone who will. I’ll ask you to name replacements.
Whether they act together or separately. Jointly means every decision needs all of them, which is safe and slow, and means the whole power fails if one of them dies or drops out. Jointly and severally means any of them can act alone, which is practical and requires more trust. There is a middle option — joint for certain decisions, several for the rest — and choosing between them is one of the things the first phone call is for.
What instructions and preferences to include. Instructions bind your attorneys, preferences guide them. This is where a badly drafted LPA does real damage: the OPG will reject a document containing an instruction that is unworkable or unlawful, and you find out months later.
Who your certificate provider is. Every LPA needs an independent person to confirm you understand what you’re signing and aren’t being pressured into it. I’ll explain who can and can’t do this.
How I run it
Instructions by questionnaire and phone, drafting, a full check, and then I come to your home for the signing — which matters more here than anywhere, because LPAs must be signed in a strict order by the donor, the certificate provider, the attorneys and the witnesses. Signatures out of sequence is the most common reason the OPG rejects a document, and it is entirely avoidable by having somebody in the room who does this for a living.
Then registration with the Office of the Public Guardian, which charges its own fee per document on top of mine. That fee goes to the government, not to me, and there are reductions and exemptions if you’re on certain means-tested benefits or a low income — I’ll tell you if you might qualify.
Reviews and revocations
An LPA is not a document you sign and never look at again. Circumstances move: an attorney dies, emigrates, becomes unwell, or is no longer someone you’d trust with your bank account. A marriage ends. The person you named as a replacement has fallen out with the family. Or you simply want somebody to read the thing and tell you what it actually says, because you signed it eleven years ago and you’re no longer sure.
What I can do:
- Read and explain a registered LPA, including who can do what, when it can be used, and whether the instructions in it still make sense.
- Revoke one completely, by a formal deed of revocation, and notify the OPG so their register is correct. This only works while you still have capacity — which is, again, the recurring theme.
- Deal with a partial change, such as an attorney who wants to stand down or who can no longer act. Bear in mind that an LPA cannot simply be amended once registered: some changes mean making a fresh one, and I’ll tell you honestly which situation you’re in rather than charging you to find out.
If you’re holding an LPA you’re unsure about, bring it to the call. Half of these conversations end with me telling somebody their document is fine.
Common questions
I'm in my thirties and perfectly healthy. Isn't this premature?
It's the opposite of premature — it's the only time you can do it. You need mental capacity at the moment you make an LPA, so the point at which you obviously need one is generally the point at which it's too late. Capacity is lost gradually in old age, but it is also lost in an afternoon, by a car on the A21 or a stroke at forty. An LPA sits in a drawer doing nothing until the day it's the most important document you own.
Isn't my husband or wife automatically able to deal with things?
No, and this is the single most common and most expensive misunderstanding I come across. Being someone's spouse, partner, child or next of kin gives you no legal authority to make decisions for them. A bank will not discuss a sole account with you. A joint account can be frozen. Doctors may consult the family about welfare decisions, but consulting is not deciding. "Next of kin" has no legal standing in this context at all.
What happens if I lose capacity without one?
Somebody — usually a family member — has to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed your deputy. It takes months rather than weeks, it costs several times what an LPA would have, it requires an annual report and a supervision fee for as long as it lasts, and the court, not you, chooses who gets appointed. Meanwhile the bills still need paying. Every part of that is avoidable with a form signed while you were well.
Can my attorney start using it straight away?
A health and welfare LPA can only ever be used once you lack capacity to make the decision in question — never before. A property and financial affairs LPA is different: once registered, you choose whether it can be used while you still have capacity (useful if you'd like help now) or only if you lose it. Either way, an attorney must act in your best interests, keep your money separate from theirs, and follow any instructions written into the document.
How long does registration take?
The Office of the Public Guardian is the bottleneck, not me. Registration has been running to a couple of months, and an LPA cannot be used until it is registered — which is the other reason not to leave this until there's a crisis. I'll prepare and check everything, deal with the certificate provider requirement, and guide you through submitting it.
Not sure whether this is what you need?
That's what the first phone call is for. It's free, there's no obligation, and if something else would serve you better I'll tell you so.