TRW & Co · Wills, probate and private wealth
How to Make a Lasting Power of Attorney
A lasting power of attorney lets you choose who will make decisions for you if you lose mental capacity. In England and Wales there are two types, covering property and finances and health and welfare. Each must be signed in the right order and registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, which costs £92 and usually takes 8 to 10 weeks.
Key pointThe cheapest safeguard is also the most overlooked: name at least one replacement attorney, because a power granted to a single attorney, or to attorneys who must act jointly, can fail completely if one of them dies or loses capacity.
At a glance
Two separate documents
A property and financial affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA do different jobs, and each has its own attorneys, instructions and registration fee.
£92 to register each
The OPG charges £92 per LPA, or £184 for both, with reductions for low incomes and exemptions for some benefit recipients.
Eight to ten weeks
GOV.UK says registration takes 8 to 10 weeks if the application contains no mistakes, and an unregistered LPA cannot be used.
Paper signatures still required
As of October 2026, everyone must sign the same original form in ink; the Powers of Attorney Act 2023 registration reforms are not yet in force.
England and Wales only
An LPA binds only in England and Wales, so assets in Scotland, Northern Ireland or abroad usually need separate local powers.
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The short answer: how to make a lasting power of attorney
A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that lets you choose who will make decisions for you if you lose mental capacity. In England and Wales you make one by completing the prescribed form, having it signed in the right order by you, a certificate provider, witnesses and your attorneys, and registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).
There are two separate types: one for property and financial affairs, and one for health and welfare. Most people make both. As of October 2026, registration costs £92 for each document, and GOV.UK says it takes 8 to 10 weeks if the application contains no mistakes.
You must be 18 or over and have capacity when you sign. That is the whole point: a lasting power of attorney has to be made while you can still make it. If you wait until capacity is lost, your family may need to apply to the Court of Protection instead, which is slower, more expensive and supervised.
The legal framework
Lasting powers of attorney are created by the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Act sets out five principles that bind every attorney: a person is presumed to have capacity, must be helped to decide where practicable, may make unwise decisions, and any decision made for them must be in their best interests and the least restrictive option available.
The detailed rules on forms, certificate providers and registration are in the Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Public Guardian Regulations 2007. The OPG registers documents, keeps the register and investigates concerns about attorneys. Disputes about validity, objections and attorneys' conduct go to the Court of Protection.
Older enduring powers of attorney
Before lasting powers were introduced, people made enduring powers of attorney (EPAs). An EPA validly made under the old regime still works for financial decisions, but it must be registered once the donor is losing capacity, and it does not cover health or welfare. Many families should consider replacing an old EPA while the donor still can.
Reform: the Powers of Attorney Act 2023
The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 amends the 2005 Act to modernise the process, including new identity checks and changes to how objections and notifications work, paving the way for a fully digital service. As of October 2026, legislation.gov.uk still lists the Act's main registration changes as not yet in force, and GOV.UK guidance still requires everyone to sign the same original paper document. You can prepare the form online, but you must print it and sign it in ink.
The two types of lasting power of attorney compared
Each lasting power of attorney is a separate legal document with its own attorneys, instructions and fee. They do different jobs, and the differences matter when choosing who to appoint.
| Feature | Property and financial affairs | Health and welfare |
|---|---|---|
| Typical decisions | Bank accounts, bills, benefits and pensions, investments, selling the home | Daily routine, medical care, moving into a care home |
| When it can be used | As soon as it is registered, with the donor's permission, or only on loss of capacity if the donor so specifies | Only when the donor lacks capacity to make the decision |
| Life-sustaining treatment | Not applicable | Only if the donor expressly gives the attorney this authority on the form |
| Who cannot act | Anyone under 18, lacking capacity, bankrupt or subject to a debt relief order | Anyone under 18 or lacking capacity |
| Registration fee | £92 | £92 |
| Where it works | England and Wales only; assets abroad usually need local documents | England and Wales only |
Choosing attorneys, replacements and instructions
Your attorney must be 18 or over and have capacity. They can be a relative, a friend, your spouse or partner, or a professional such as a solicitor. They do not need to live in the UK or be a British citizen, although an attorney abroad can find day-to-day banking and property tasks harder.
Joint or several?
If you appoint more than one attorney, you must decide how they act. "Jointly and severally" lets each act alone or together, which is flexible and survives the loss of one attorney. "Jointly" means all must agree on every decision, which adds protection but can paralyse the arrangement if one attorney dies or disagrees. You can also mix the two, for example requiring joint decisions on selling the home and allowing separate decisions on everything else.
Replacement attorneys
You can name replacement attorneys who step in if an original attorney can no longer act. This is one of the cheapest safeguards available and is often overlooked. Without one, the death or incapacity of a sole attorney can bring the whole lasting power of attorney to an end.
Preferences and instructions
Instructions are binding; preferences are guidance. A well-chosen instruction, for example that investments must be managed by a regulated discretionary manager, can protect the donor. A badly drafted one, or one that conflicts with the form's structure, is a common reason the OPG refuses or severs part of an application.
Business owners often need a separate business lasting power of attorney, or at least careful drafting, so that an attorney can deal with company shares and bank mandates without breaching the articles of association or a shareholders' agreement. Check what the company's constitution says about directors who lose capacity, and align both documents.
How to make and register a lasting power of attorney, step by step
- Decide which types you need. Most people make both. Consider whether a separate document is needed for business interests or assets abroad.
- Choose attorneys and replacements. Decide how they will act and whether any decisions must be made jointly. Talk to them first: they must be willing.
- Complete the form. Use the OPG online service or the paper forms. The online service checks answers and lets you save progress, but you still print the result.
- Choose a certificate provider. Under regulation 8 of the 2007 Regulations, this must be someone who has known you personally for at least two years or a professional such as a registered healthcare professional or solicitor. Family members, attorneys and their families, business partners and care home staff are disqualified.
- Sign in the correct order. You sign first, with a witness, then the certificate provider, then the attorneys and replacements, each with a witness. Everyone signs the same original. An attorney cannot witness your signature.
- Notify the people you named. If you listed "people to notify", send them form LP3. They have three weeks to raise concerns with the OPG.
- Register with the OPG. Send the original with the fee of £92 per document, or claim a reduction or exemption if eligible. Registration takes 8 to 10 weeks if there are no errors.
- Put it to work. Once registered, attorneys can use the OPG's online service to share access with banks and other organisations, or use certified copies.
If the OPG finds a correctable mistake, it may allow you to fix it and reapply within three months for a reduced fee of £46. Errors that go to validity, such as signing in the wrong order, often mean starting again.
An illustrative scenario
This example is illustrative only and does not describe a real client. A 68-year-old widow in north London owns her home, an investment portfolio and a minority stake in a family company. Her two adult children live in London and Dubai respectively.
She makes two lasting powers of attorney. For property and finance, she appoints both children jointly and severally, with a joint-decision requirement only for any sale of the home, and names her nephew as replacement. She adds an instruction that the portfolio must stay with a regulated manager. For health and welfare, she appoints the London-based child, with her son in Dubai as replacement, and gives authority over life-sustaining treatment after discussing her wishes with both.
Her solicitor checks the company's articles and arranges a board resolution so that an attorney can exercise her shareholder rights. She also signs a separate power of attorney for a small apartment she owns abroad. Two years later, after a stroke, her children act within days rather than waiting months for a Court of Protection deputyship order.
What attorneys must do once the LPA is in use
Registration is the start, not the end. An attorney acting under a lasting power of attorney must follow the Mental Capacity Act principles and have regard to its Code of Practice. In practice that means helping the donor make their own decisions wherever possible, and only deciding for them when they cannot.
Every decision taken for the donor must be in their best interests. Section 4 of the 2005 Act requires the attorney to consider the donor's past and present wishes, feelings, beliefs and values, and to consult people close to them where appropriate. A decision the attorney would not make for themselves can still be right for the donor.
Money and records
A financial attorney must keep the donor's money separate from their own, keep accounts and receipts, and avoid conflicts of interest. The Act permits only modest gifts on customary occasions, such as birthdays or weddings, to people related to or connected with the donor. Larger gifts, including tax-driven gifts, generally need the Court of Protection's approval, a point that matters when families want to continue the donor's estate planning.
Supervision and ending the power
Anyone can report a concern about an attorney to the OPG, which can investigate and apply to the Court of Protection to suspend or remove them. While the donor still has capacity, they can end a lasting power of attorney at any time by a deed of revocation and by notifying the OPG. Divorce or dissolution can also end a spouse's appointment unless the document says otherwise.
Risks and common mistakes
Leaving it too late
A lasting power of attorney can only be made by someone with capacity to understand what it does. Once dementia or a serious illness takes hold, the certificate provider may be unable to sign, and the window closes. The alternative is a deputyship application to the Court of Protection, which involves court fees, ongoing supervision, annual reports and security bonds, and can take months. Families often discover this at the worst possible time, when bills are due and accounts are frozen. Our guide to deputyship and the Court of Protection explains that process.
Execution errors that invalidate the document
Signing out of order, using an ineligible witness or certificate provider, missing pages and dates, or crossing out text without initials are the classic reasons the OPG rejects an application. Everyone must sign the same original, so an attorney abroad has to receive and return the physical form, which adds delay and risk of loss. Professional preparation reduces these risks, and checking the document page by page before posting it to the OPG saves weeks.
Choosing the wrong attorneys or structure
An attorney must act in your best interests, keep your money separate from theirs, keep records and avoid conflicts. Appointing someone with financial difficulties, or appointing siblings jointly when they do not get on, can lead to deadlock or disputes. If you appoint attorneys only jointly and one dies, the power may fail entirely unless you named replacements. The OPG can investigate attorneys and the Court of Protection can remove them, but prevention is far better than litigation.
Assuming the document works everywhere
A lasting power of attorney is legally binding only in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own powers of attorney. Banks and land registries abroad will rarely accept an English LPA, and some will insist on a locally executed, notarised and legalised power. Anyone with property or accounts overseas should put local documents in place at the same time.
Cross-border planning, including Bangladesh
For international families, the lasting power of attorney is one part of a wider set of documents. You do not need to live in the UK to make one for your assets in England and Wales, and an attorney can be based abroad. But the document will not, on its own, let an attorney sell land in Bangladesh, manage an account in Dubai or deal with shares in a Singapore company.
For Bangladesh, families usually need a separate power of attorney that meets local execution and registration requirements, often signed before a notary and legalised for use there. Our guide to a power of attorney for Bangladesh explains the steps. It makes sense to prepare the English LPA, the foreign power and your will together, so that the people you trust are named consistently.
Checklist before you sign
- Decide whether you need both types of lasting power of attorney, and whether a business LPA is appropriate.
- Choose attorneys you trust, and at least one replacement.
- Decide how attorneys will act, and keep instructions short and workable.
- Choose an eligible certificate provider.
- Sign in the correct order on the same original, with eligible witnesses.
- Register promptly; an unregistered LPA cannot be used.
- Put matching powers in place for assets outside England and Wales.
- Review the documents after marriage, divorce, bereavement or a business sale, and consider inheritance tax planning at the same time.
TRW & Co's London office prepares lasting powers of attorney, advises attorneys on their duties and acts in Court of Protection matters through our powers of attorney and Court of Protection team, working alongside our private client and wills and estate planning colleagues. To arrange a meeting, contact us: email info@trw.co, call +880 1779 127165, or visit Holborn Gate, 330 High Holborn, London WC1V 7QH.
Frequently asked questions
01How much does a lasting power of attorney cost?
The Office of the Public Guardian charges £92 to register each lasting power of attorney, so £184 if you make both a property and financial affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA. You may qualify for a reduction if you earn less than £12,000, or an exemption if you receive certain benefits. If the OPG returns an application because of a correctable mistake, you may be able to reapply within three months for £46. Professional fees for preparing the documents are separate and depend on complexity.
02How long does it take to register an LPA?
GOV.UK states that registration takes 8 to 10 weeks if there are no mistakes in the application. If you listed people to notify, they have three weeks to raise concerns, so send their notices before or at the same time as you apply. Delays usually come from execution errors, missing pages or ineligible witnesses, so check the document carefully before posting the original to the OPG in Birmingham.
03Can I make a lasting power of attorney online?
You can prepare the forms using the OPG's online service, which guides you through each step and checks your answers. As of October 2026, however, you still need to print the forms, and everyone must sign the same original document in ink: digital signatures and signed copies are not accepted. The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 will enable a more digital process, but legislation.gov.uk still shows its main registration changes as not yet in force.
04Who can be a certificate provider for an LPA?
A certificate provider must be 18 or over and either have known you personally for at least two years or have relevant professional skills, such as a registered healthcare professional, solicitor or barrister. They confirm that you understand the LPA and are not being pressured. Your family members, your attorneys and their families, your business partners or employees, and owners or staff of a care home where you live cannot act.
05What happens if someone loses capacity without an LPA?
Nobody, not even a spouse, automatically has authority to manage another adult's bank accounts or property. Family members usually need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy. Deputyship involves application fees, a security bond, supervision by the OPG and annual reports, and it can take several months. Health and welfare decisions are generally made by professionals in the person's best interests under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
06Does a UK lasting power of attorney work abroad?
A lasting power of attorney is legally binding only in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems. Banks, land registries and courts outside the UK may refuse to accept an English LPA or demand local formalities such as notarisation and legalisation. If you own property or hold accounts abroad, including in Bangladesh, put a separate power of attorney in place that meets local requirements.
Sources and official materials
- GOV.UK: Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney — Official guidance on types, fees, signing and registration
- Mental Capacity Act 2005 — Statutory basis for LPAs and the best interests principles
- Powers of Attorney Act 2023 — Reforms to LPA registration and the move to a digital service
- LPA, EPA and Public Guardian Regulations 2007, regulation 8 — Who can and cannot be a certificate provider
- Office of the Public Guardian — Registers LPAs and supervises attorneys and deputies
- GOV.UK: Use a lasting power of attorney — How attorneys share access with banks and others
General information only, current as at 21 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor–client relationship. It reflects the law of England and Wales unless stated otherwise; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems, and the law changes frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.