Lasting Power of Attorney: Why to Sort It Before You Need It

Of all the paperwork families deal with, this is the one they most often wish they had done sooner. It is not expensive, it is not complicated, and the window for doing it closes without warning.

What it is

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document in which your parent, while they are able to make decisions, appoints someone to make decisions on their behalf if a time comes when they cannot. This guide covers England and Wales.

There are two types and they are separate documents.

Property and Financial Affairs. Bank accounts, bills, pensions, benefits, selling a house. This one can be used as soon as it is registered, if your parent chooses, or only if they lose capacity.

Health and Welfare. Medical treatment, where they live, day-to-day care. This one only ever takes effect if they lose the ability to decide for themselves.

Most people should have both. The financial one is more obviously useful; the health and welfare one is the one families desperately wish they had when a decision about care needs making.

The critical point

An LPA can only be made while your parent has mental capacity to make it. Once they do not, the option is gone.

At that point the only route is applying to the Court of Protection to become a deputy, which is considerably more expensive, takes many months, and comes with ongoing supervision and annual reporting. Families going through it often say the same thing: we should have done this two years ago.

This is the reason to treat it as an ordinary piece of admin now rather than something to deal with when it becomes relevant. By the time it is obviously relevant it is often too late.

What it costs

Registering each LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian costs £92. Both documents for one person is £184. For a couple doing both, £368.

The fee rose from £82 in November 2025.

If your parent's gross annual income is under £12,000 they may qualify for a 50% reduction, bringing it to £46 per document. Certain means-tested benefits mean no fee at all. Note that from February 2026, Universal Credit no longer qualifies for full exemption; recipients are assessed for the reduction instead. You apply for either using form LPA120 at the same time as registering.

The forms themselves are free on GOV.UK and there is no legal requirement to use a solicitor. If you do, expect £300 to £600 per document on top of the registration fee.

Do you need a solicitor?

For a straightforward situation, the GOV.UK service walks you through it and plenty of families do it themselves perfectly well.

Use a solicitor if there is property or significant savings, a blended family where the choice of attorneys needs thought, an existing will or trust arrangement to align with, any possibility of family disagreement, or any doubt at all about your parent's capacity. In that last case, do not attempt it yourself. If the house is part of the picture, our guide to whether you have to sell the house to pay for care explains how property is treated.

Choosing attorneys

Whoever your parent trusts, which is not automatically the eldest or the nearest.

They can appoint more than one, and the choice between "jointly" (all must agree on everything) and "jointly and severally" (any one can act alone) matters more than it sounds. Jointly sounds safer and is often impractical, since every bank transaction needs every attorney. Most people choose jointly and severally, sometimes with specific major decisions reserved to be made jointly.

Name replacements. People die, fall ill, or move abroad.

How to raise it with your parent

This conversation goes badly when it sounds like you are asking for control of their money, and it goes well when it is framed as what it is: them deciding who acts for them, rather than a court deciding later.

A few things that help. Do it as a family exercise, with everyone including you sorting theirs out at the same time, because an LPA is not an old age document and adults of any age should have one. Point out that they choose the person and can include instructions and preferences. And be clear that the financial one does not have to take effect until they want it to.

If your parent is wary of help more generally, our guides to having the conversation about care and what to do when a parent refuses help cover the wider picture.

Where to keep it

Registration takes several weeks and the LPA cannot be used until it is registered. Once it is, tell the bank, the GP surgery, and anyone else who will need to know, because presenting it in a crisis to an organisation that has never seen it wastes days.

Keep the original safe and note where it is.

A few questions families often ask

Can Mum change her mind?

Yes. She can cancel an LPA at any time while she has capacity.

We already have an Enduring Power of Attorney. Is that enough?

EPAs made before October 2007 remain valid but only cover property and finances. There is no health and welfare equivalent, so it is worth adding one.

Is it the same in Scotland?

No. Scotland has its own system through the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). Northern Ireland also differs.

Can an attorney use the money to pay for Mum's care?

Yes. Paying for care from your parent's own money is exactly what a financial attorney can do, as long as it is in their best interests. Keep clear records of what is spent.

Where to get help

Start at GOV.UK, which has the forms and the online service. Age UK and Independent Age both publish good free guidance. For anything complicated, use a solicitor who specialises in later life.

We are not lawyers and this is general information rather than legal advice. We mention it because it comes up constantly in conversations with families, almost always slightly too late.