I have an Enduring Power of Attorney. Do I need an LPA?

Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) were replaced by Lasting Powers of Attorney in October 2007. If you made one before then, it still works. But it only covers money and property, and it was designed for a very different world. If you can still make your own decisions, replacing it with LPAs is usually the better choice.

Checked by Steve Ryan, founder
October 2026

Is my EPA still valid?

Yes, if it was signed and witnessed before 1 October 2007 and made correctly. Your attorneys can use it while you’re well, with your permission. If you start to lose the ability to make your own decisions, they must register it with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can carry on using it.

Nobody can make a new EPA now, and you can’t change an existing one. To make changes, you’d cancel it and make an LPA instead.

What an EPA doesn’t do

It was made for a different world. EPAs date from a time when most people banked at a local branch, paid bills by cheque and collected their pension from the post office. Today most banking happens online, and many local branches have gone. Your attorneys mustn’t simply log in with your own online banking details, as that can break the bank’s terms and the Computer Misuse Act. To allow online banking, the document needs specific wording, and an EPA can’t be changed to add it. A new LPA can include it.
It doesn’t cover health and care. An EPA only covers money and property. Only a health and welfare LPA lets someone you trust make decisions about your care, where you live, or medical treatment.
It has no replacement attorneys. If you have one attorney and they die or can no longer act, the EPA ends. If your attorneys must act together and one of them stops, it ends too.
Registering it can be harder for your family. When it’s registered, your attorneys must formally tell you and at least three of your relatives, at a time that’s often already difficult.
It may not reflect your life today. The attorneys you chose many years ago may no longer be the right people.

Your options

If you can still make your own decisions, and the cost is manageable, replacing your EPA with LPAs is usually the more prudent route.

Usually the better choice

Replace your EPA with LPAs

Make a property and financial affairs LPA, with replacement attorneys if you’d like them, and cancel your EPA at the same time as you apply to register it. Make a health and welfare LPA too, so decisions about your care are covered as well.

Keep your EPA, and add a health and welfare LPA

You can keep your EPA for money and property, and make a health and welfare LPA to cover your care. This costs less now, but leaves the gaps above in place.

How to cancel an EPA

If you’re replacing your EPA, cancel it at the same time as you send your new property and financial affairs LPA to be registered.

If your EPA hasn’t been registered, you can cancel it yourself while you can still make your own decisions. You sign a short statement called a “deed of revocation”, in front of a witness, and keep it with your EPA. You don’t send it to the Office of the Public Guardian, but you must tell your attorneys, and any banks or other organisations that know about the EPA.

If your EPA has been registered, you have to apply to the Court of Protection to cancel it, which currently costs £432. A registered EPA usually means someone was already concerned about your decision-making, so we’d suggest personal advice first.

Choosing a certificate provider? Your certificate provider for a new LPA can’t be one of the attorneys named in your EPA. See who can be a certificate provider.

If the person with the EPA is losing capacity

If you’re helping someone whose memory or decision-making is getting worse, they may no longer be able to make a new LPA. In that case, their EPA attorney may need to register the EPA instead. Our team at Futura Planning can talk you through it.

How yourLPA helps

Our online form asks whether you’ve made an EPA before. Tell us, and we’ll check how your new LPA fits alongside it. If you’re replacing your EPA, we’ll explain how to cancel it when you send your new LPA to be registered.

Checked by Steve Ryan, founder of yourLPA and a member of the Society of Will Writers, against the Office of the Public Guardian’s guidance in October 2026. This guide is general information for people in England and Wales, not personal advice.