Lasting Power of Attorney UK: A Complete 2026 Guide

Quick answer

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint attorneys to make financial or welfare decisions for you if you lose mental capacity. In England and Wales there are two types -- property and financial affairs, and health and welfare. You can set one up yourself on gov.uk by paying the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee, or pay a solicitor for tailored advice.

What a Lasting Power of Attorney actually does

An LPA is one of the most important documents most adults never get round to making. It names one or more people you trust -- your attorneys -- and gives them legal authority to step in if you can no longer make decisions for yourself. That might follow a stroke, an accident, dementia, or any condition that affects your capacity.

The key word is capacity. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out how capacity is assessed, and it is decision-specific. You might be able to decide what to eat but not how to manage a pension drawdown. An LPA is designed to fill exactly that gap, on your terms, with people you chose while you were able to choose.

Crucially, you can only make an LPA while you still have capacity. Once you have lost it, the option is gone -- and your loved ones are left with the slower, costlier Court of Protection route instead.

The two types of LPA in England and Wales

There are two separate documents, and they cover different ground.

You can make one or both. The financial LPA is the one most people regard as essential because frozen bank accounts cause immediate hardship. The health and welfare LPA matters when family members might otherwise disagree about care.

Choosing your attorneys

Your attorneys should be people you trust completely with your money and your wellbeing. They must be 18 or over and, for a financial LPA, not bankrupt.

You can appoint more than one attorney and decide how they act:

• Jointly -- they must agree every decision together.
• Jointly and severally -- they can act together or independently.
• Jointly for some decisions, severally for others.

Jointly and severally is usually the most practical, because a single attorney can pay a bill without tracking everyone down. You can also name replacement attorneys who step in if your first choice cannot act. Naming replacements at the outset is sensible, because you cannot add them later once you have lost capacity.

How to set one up

You have two routes.

Doing it yourself

You can complete and register an LPA yourself through the official service on gov.uk, paying only the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee. The process involves naming your attorneys, choosing how they act, adding any instructions or preferences, and having the document signed and witnessed in the correct order. A certificate provider -- someone who confirms you understand what you are signing -- must also sign.

This works well for straightforward situations. Read the guidance carefully, as documents are routinely rejected for small errors such as signing pages in the wrong sequence.

Using a solicitor

A solicitor charges a fee on top of registration but is worth considering if you run a business, have complex investments, expect family disagreement, or want carefully drafted instructions. Get a fixed-fee quote before you commit.

What it costs

The Office of the Public Guardian charges a registration fee per LPA. Fees are reviewed periodically, so always check the current figure on gov.uk rather than trusting an older number. A reduction or exemption may apply if you receive certain means-tested benefits or have a low income.

Because LPA fees sit outside our verified rate card, we will not quote a figure that might be out of date. The mechanism is simple: one fee per document, payable to the Office of the Public Guardian, with help available for those on low incomes.

LPA versus the Court of Protection

If you lose capacity without an LPA in place, nobody automatically gains the right to manage your affairs -- not even a spouse. Your family must apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy.

The contrast is stark. An LPA is planning; a deputyship is firefighting. The deputyship route can take many months, during which bills may go unpaid and care decisions stall.

LPAs, gifting and inheritance tax

A common misconception is that an attorney can freely move money around for tax planning. They cannot. Under a property and financial affairs LPA, attorneys have only limited authority to make gifts -- broadly, customary gifts of reasonable value on occasions such as birthdays, weddings or at Christmas, and reasonable gifts to charities the donor supported. Anything larger usually needs Court of Protection approval.

This matters for inheritance tax. The IHT nil-rate band is GBP 325,000, with a residence nil-rate band of up to GBP 175,000 where you pass a home to direct descendants. The rate above the threshold is 40%, falling to 36% where 10% or more of the net estate is left to charity. Reducing a future IHT bill often relies on lifetime gifting -- but if you have lost capacity, your attorneys cannot do that planning for you.

The lesson is to do your own estate planning while you can. Work out your potential exposure with our

calculator, and review your pension nominations too -- pensions often sit outside the estate and our calculator can help you plan contributions, where the annual allowance is GBP 60,000.

Managing money under a financial LPA

Once a financial LPA is active, attorneys must act in your best interests and keep your money separate from their own. Their duties commonly include:

• Paying everyday bills, care costs and tax owed.
• Managing bank accounts, savings and investments.
• Dealing with your pension income.
• Selling or maintaining property if needed.

Attorneys are not personally taxed on managing your affairs -- your own tax position is unchanged. The donor's income is still assessed normally: the Personal Allowance remains GBP 12,570, with basic-rate tax of 20% on gross income from GBP 12,571 to GBP 50,270 and higher-rate 40% above that. If attorneys handle savings or investment income, the same allowances and rates that would apply to you continue to apply.

Good record-keeping is essential. The Office of the Public Guardian can investigate concerns about how attorneys behave, and serious abuse can be referred onwards. Choose people who will keep clear accounts.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Leaving it too late. You must have capacity to make an LPA, so do it while you are well.
• Making only one type. A financial LPA does not cover health decisions, and vice versa.
• Not naming replacements. If your sole attorney dies or cannot act, the LPA may fail.
• Vague or contradictory instructions. Overly rigid wording can make the document unworkable or invalid.
• Forgetting to register. An unregistered LPA cannot be used, however perfectly it is drafted.
• Assuming it covers Scotland or Northern Ireland. Those jurisdictions use different documents.

Next steps

Setting up an LPA is one of the most cost-effective pieces of planning you can do. The financial document alone can spare your family months of stress if life takes an unexpected turn. Decide who you trust, choose both types if you can, and register them with the Office of the Public Guardian sooner rather than later.

While you are thinking about your wider finances, it is worth running the numbers on the rest of your plan. Estimate any inheritance tax your estate might face, check your pension is on track, and make sure your will is current. An LPA, a will and a clear estate plan together give you and your family genuine peace of mind. For current fees, forms and the online application, always start at gov.uk and the Office of the Public Guardian.