The Legal Requirements for Appointing a Lasting Power of Attorney: A Comprehensive Guide

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) lets you appoint trusted people to make decisions for you in England and Wales. To make one, you must be at least 18 and have the mental capacity to understand the document. A certificate provider must confirm that you understand what you are doing and are acting freely, and the prescribed signatures must be completed in the correct order and properly witnessed.

The LPA cannot be used until it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). Registration currently costs £92 per LPA, increased from £82 on 17 November 2025, so registering both types costs £184. GOV.UK currently advises allowing around 8 to 10 weeks where there are no mistakes, rather than 20 weeks. Some errors can also be corrected and resubmitted for a reduced £46 repeat application fee rather than always requiring a completely new full-fee application.

Here is what the law requires, step by step.

The two documents, and why most people need both

	Property and Financial Affairs	Health and Welfare
Covers	Bank accounts, bills, property and investments	Medical treatment, care arrangements and daily routine
Can be used	Once registered, either immediately or only after loss of capacity, depending on your choice	Only when you lack capacity to make the relevant decision
Life-sustaining treatment	Not applicable	You decide whether attorneys or clinicians have authority to make these decisions
Registration fee	£92	£92

They are separate documents and each has its own registration fee. With a property and financial affairs LPA, you can choose whether your attorneys may act as soon as it is registered or only if you lose capacity. A health and welfare LPA can only be used when you lack capacity to make the particular decision yourself.

Our comparison of health and welfare versus property and financial affairs covers the practical differences, and our note on ordinary versus lasting powers of attorney explains why an ordinary power of attorney does not continue if the donor loses mental capacity.

Capacity is the requirement everything else rests on

You must have mental capacity to make the LPA at the relevant time. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, capacity is presumed unless established otherwise and is decision-specific. A diagnosis such as dementia does not automatically mean someone lacks capacity to make an LPA if they can understand, retain, use or weigh the relevant information and communicate their decision.

This is why early planning matters. If someone can no longer make the decision to create an LPA, another person cannot make one for them. The family may instead need to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship.

From July 2026, the Court of Protection application fee is £432. A hearing, if required, currently costs £266. Once appointed, a deputy may also face a £100 assessment fee and annual OPG supervision fees of £320 for general supervision or £35 in qualifying minimal-supervision cases.

Our article on what happens without an LPA in place sets out the difference, while our guide to power of attorney and mental capacity explains the capacity test. Where dementia is already a factor, our note on LPAs and dementia is worth reading first.

Who can and cannot take each role

Role	Requirements	Important restrictions
Donor	At least 18 and has the required mental capacity	Cannot make an LPA after losing capacity to make that decision
Attorney	Usually an individual aged 18 or over with capacity; a trust corporation can act for property and financial affairs	Bankruptcy or a debt relief order prevents an individual acting for property and financial affairs
Certificate provider	At least 18; either known you well for at least two years or has relevant professional skills	Cannot be an attorney, replacement attorney, specified family member, business partner, employee or another prohibited connected person
Witness	At least 18	The donor cannot witness an attorney's signature, and an attorney cannot witness the donor's signature

The certificate provider is important. It cannot be your daughter or another prohibited relative, and it cannot be one of your attorneys. It must be someone sufficiently independent to confirm that you understand the LPA and are not being subjected to fraud or undue pressure. A professional such as a solicitor, GP, registered healthcare professional or social worker may qualify, as can someone who has known you well for at least two years.

Choosing attorneys deserves equal care, and our guide to choosing the right person for your LPA covers the main considerations.

If you appoint several attorneys, you decide how they act. “Jointly” means the attorneys must make the relevant decisions together. If one can no longer act, the others normally cannot continue making joint decisions unless the LPA contains an appropriate arrangement or replacement attorneys step in. “Jointly and severally” allows attorneys to act together or independently.

Our comparison of joint and jointly and severally appointed attorneys explains the trade-off. Appointing replacement attorneys can help prevent an LPA from failing if an original attorney can no longer act.

Signing in the right order

The signing sequence is prescribed:

• You, the donor, complete and sign the required donor sections first, with the relevant signature witnessed.

• The certificate provider signs after you.

• The attorneys and any replacement attorneys sign after the certificate provider, with their signatures witnessed.

• When registration is applied for, the relevant applicant signs the registration section after the attorneys have completed their parts.

Everyone can sign on the same day, provided the correct sequence is followed. The dates do not have to fall on different days. Attorneys can witness each other's signatures, while the certificate provider can also act as a witness if the rules are satisfied.

An attorney signing before the certificate provider can make the instrument unacceptable for registration. However, not every mistake means losing the entire £92 fee: depending on the error, the OPG may allow a correction and repeat application within three months for £46.

Our article on the role of a solicitor in drafting an LPA explains where professional preparation can help avoid preventable mistakes.

Registration is not optional

An attorney cannot use an LPA until the OPG has registered it. A bank, care provider or conveyancer will therefore need evidence of a registered LPA before recognising the attorney's authority.

The current registration target is around 8 to 10 weeks for an error-free application, although individual cases can take longer. Our guide to registering an LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian walks through the process, and the official route is on the GOV.UK power of attorney pages.

Fees can be reduced or waived. If the donor's annual income before tax is below £12,000, a 50% remission can reduce the £92 fee to £46. Certain means-tested benefits can qualify for a full exemption. Universal Credit is treated differently: current OPG guidance says a donor receiving Universal Credit is assessed for remission rather than exemption. The relevant application is form LPA120, not LPA120A.

The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 provides the framework for further digitalisation, but the fully digital process described when the Act received Royal Assent has not replaced the current signing requirements. The existing online “Make an LPA” service helps users complete the forms, but they must still be printed and physically signed; digital signatures are not currently accepted. GOV.UK One Login is now used for the separate online “Use an LPA” service.

What attorneys can and cannot do

Attorneys must follow the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and act in the donor's best interests. They should help the donor make their own decisions where possible, follow valid instructions in the LPA, keep appropriate records and generally keep the donor's money separate from their own.

Our articles on an attorney's responsibilities and the limitations of an LPA explain those boundaries.

Attorneys cannot make or alter a will for the donor. Property and financial affairs attorneys have limited powers to make gifts, generally covering reasonable gifts on customary occasions and charitable gifts in appropriate circumstances. Larger or unusual gifts normally require authority from the Court of Protection.

Misuse can be investigated by the OPG. Our note on protecting against financial abuse through an LPA covers safeguards, while our guide to challenging or overruling a power of attorney explains the options where concerns arise.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make an LPA myself?

Yes. The forms and online preparation service are free; the main government charge is the registration fee. Legal advice can be particularly useful where there is a business, overseas property, complicated family arrangements or uncertainty about capacity.

Can I change or cancel it later?

Yes, provided you still have the mental capacity to make that decision. Revocation is normally done by deed and the OPG should be informed. Our guide to revoking or changing a power of attorney covers the process.

Does an old enduring power of attorney still work?

An EPA validly made before 1 October 2007 can still be used. It only concerns property and financial affairs and must be registered when the donor is becoming or has become mentally incapable of managing their affairs. Our comparison of LPAs and EPAs explains what still applies.

Does an LPA cover property abroad?

Not automatically. An LPA made under the law of England and Wales may not be recognised or sufficient in another jurisdiction. Our note on LPAs and international assets explains what else may be required.

Does an LPA replace a will?

No. An LPA operates during the donor's lifetime and ends when the donor dies. A will deals with the estate after death, so the documents perform different roles.

Getting it done

The requirements are manageable, but errors in capacity, signing, attorney appointments or instructions can create delay. Athi Law's power of attorney solicitors prepare and register LPAs for clients across Sheffield, Dronfield and West Bromwich.

If separation is relevant, our family law solicitors can advise on the effect of divorce or dissolution where a spouse or civil partner has been appointed as attorney, alongside child arrangements where necessary. Our conveyancing solicitors can also deal with property transactions undertaken under a valid registered LPA.

Contact our team to arrange both LPAs and make sure the documents reflect how you want decisions to be handled.