What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you choose people you trust to help you make decisions, or to make them for you, if a time comes when you can’t make them yourself.

Checked by Steve Ryan, founder
October 2026

Why it matters

An accident, a stroke or an illness such as dementia can affect anyone, at any age. If it happens and you haven’t made an LPA, nobody has an automatic right to manage your money or make decisions about your care. That includes your husband, wife, partner and children. Your family would usually have to apply to the Court of Protection instead, which takes longer and costs more. Find out what happens without an LPA.

An LPA can only be made while you’re able to make your own decisions. That’s why it’s best to make one while you’re well, not when it’s needed.

The two types of LPA

Property and financial affairs

Lets your attorneys deal with your money and property, for example:

  • managing your bank and building society accounts, including online banking if your LPA allows it
  • paying your bills
  • collecting your pension or benefits
  • selling your home, if that’s needed

When it can be used: you choose. Either as soon as it’s registered, with your permission (useful if you’re in hospital or find things hard to manage), or only if you can’t make decisions yourself.

Health and welfare

Lets your attorneys make decisions about your care, for example:

  • your daily routine, such as washing, dressing and eating
  • your medical care
  • moving into a care home
  • life-sustaining treatment, if you choose to allow it

When it can be used: only when you can’t make the decision yourself.

You can make one type or both. Many people make both, because each covers decisions the other doesn’t: a property and financial affairs LPA doesn’t let anyone decide about your care, and a health and welfare LPA doesn’t cover money.

Who’s involved

You, the “donor”
The person making the LPA. You must be 18 or over and able to make your own decisions when you make it. You don’t need to live in the UK or be a British citizen.
Your attorneys
The people you choose to act for you. They must be 18 or over. You can choose one or several, and decide how they work together. Read our guide to choosing attorneys.
Replacement attorneys (optional)
People who step in if one of your attorneys can no longer act, for example because they’ve died or become ill.
Your certificate provider
An independent person who confirms you understand the LPA and that nobody is pressuring you into it. There are strict rules about who this can be. Read our guide to certificate providers.
Witnesses
People who watch you and your attorneys sign. You can’t witness your attorneys’ signatures, and they can’t witness yours. See how to sign your LPA.
People to notify (optional)
Up to five people, often family members, who are told when your LPA is being registered, so they can raise any concerns. They can’t be your attorneys or replacements.

Making and registering an LPA

  1. Fill in the LPA form. This is where you name everyone and make your choices.
  2. Sign it, in the right order. You, your certificate provider and your attorneys all sign the same original document, with witnesses. Our signing guide explains the order.
  3. Register it with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). An LPA can’t be used until it’s registered. Registration costs £92 for each LPA, or less if you have a low income or receive certain benefits (check if you can pay £46 or nothing). It currently takes 8 to 10 weeks if there are no mistakes.

Mistakes are costly. If the OPG finds a mistake it can’t accept, the LPA has to be corrected or made again, and you may wait weeks longer. That’s why we check every answer before your LPA is printed, and check your signed pages before you post it.

Where an LPA works

An LPA is legally binding only in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own types of power of attorney. If you have property or money abroad, you may need extra arrangements, and we’d suggest personal advice.

Can I change or cancel my LPA?

Yes, as long as you’re still able to make your own decisions. You can cancel an LPA, or remove an attorney, by sending the OPG a signed and witnessed statement called a “deed of revocation”. You can’t add a new attorney to an LPA once it’s made: you’d make a new LPA instead.

An attorney who is your husband, wife or civil partner automatically stops being your attorney if the marriage or civil partnership legally ends, unless your LPA says they can carry on.

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.