Power of Attorney in the UK: The 2026 Complete Guide

Last reviewed: 24 May 2026 by the MP Estate Planning editorial team. Jurisdiction: England and Wales. Scotland uses Continuing and Welfare Powers of Attorney registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland); Northern Ireland uses Enduring Powers of Attorney registered with the Office of Care and Protection.

What is a Power of Attorney?

A Power of Attorney (POA) is a formal legal document that gives one or more people (your attorneys) the authority to make decisions on your behalf. It is created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and governed by a statutory Code of Practice that attorneys must follow.

In England and Wales today, the only type of POA you can create that survives a loss of mental capacity is the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). Two older forms — general/ordinary powers of attorney (still used for short-term, capacity-intact arrangements) and Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) — are also discussed below.

The two types of Lasting Power of Attorney

1. Property & Financial Affairs LPA

Lets your attorney handle money matters: paying bills, operating bank accounts, dealing with HMRC, claiming benefits and pensions, buying or selling property, and managing investments. Unique to this LPA: you can choose for it to be used as soon as it’s registered (with your permission, while you still have capacity) — useful if you spend long periods abroad or are physically unable to handle paperwork. Source: gov.uk — types of LPA.

2. Health & Welfare LPA

Lets your attorney make decisions about your medical treatment, where you live, and day-to-day care — but only when you no longer have capacity to make the decision yourself. You can specifically grant or withhold authority over life-sustaining treatment (the LPA form has a tick-box for this and the choice must be witnessed). Source: gov.uk — types of LPA.

In our experience, most adults benefit from putting both LPAs in place at the same time. The two cover different and complementary scenarios, and the marginal cost and time of adding the second is small.

How much does an LPA cost in 2026?

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) registration fee in 2026 is £92 per LPA (the fee increased from £82 to £92 on 17 November 2025) (gov.uk — Register an LPA). Most people make both types, so total registration cost is £184 per person, or £368 for a couple.

If the donor’s gross annual income is under £12,000, a 50% fee reduction may apply (£46 per LPA). A full exemption is available for donors receiving certain qualifying means-tested benefits — note that from 2 February 2026, Universal Credit on its own no longer automatically qualifies for the exemption. Application is on form LPA120 (gov.uk — LPA reduced fees).

Beyond the OPG registration fee, the cost of help filling in the forms correctly varies widely:

• DIY: £0 — the OPG forms (LP1F and LP1H) are free to download and a guided online service is available at gov.uk. Realistic only for straightforward cases — mistakes are common and the OPG will reject any LPA with a defect.
• Online will/LPA services: typically £80–£200 per LPA on top of the £92 registration fee.
• Estate planner or specialist will-writer: typically £150–£500 per LPA, fixed fee.
• Solicitor: typically £300–£600+ per LPA where the case involves complex family circumstances, capacity questions or business assets.

How long does an LPA take in 2026?

End-to-end, expect 16–22 weeks in 2026: roughly 1–3 weeks for you to complete the forms and gather signatures (donor, certificate provider, attorneys, witnesses), then 14–20 weeks at the OPG for the registration itself (OPG statistics). The LPA is only legally usable from the date of registration — a sent-but-unregistered LPA carries no authority. The OPG is rolling out a Modernising LPAs digital programme that, in time, is expected to shorten this; the position can change quickly so the OPG’s current published timescales are the most reliable guide.

Who does what: the four people involved

1. The Donor — you, the person making the LPA. You must be aged 18+ and have mental capacity at the time you sign.
2. The Attorney(s) — the person or people you appoint to act for you. They must be aged 18+ (and, for a financial LPA, not bankrupt). You can appoint one attorney or several, and you can specify they act jointly (all decisions together), jointly and severally (each can act alone — common), or jointly for some decisions and severally for others.
3. Replacement Attorney(s) — optional but strongly encouraged. They step in if a named attorney can no longer act (death, incapacity, resignation, or — for spouses — divorce).
4. The Certificate Provider — an independent person who signs the LPA to confirm you understand it, are not under pressure, and are mentally capable of making it. Must either have known you personally for at least 2 years (e.g. a friend, neighbour, colleague — but not family or attorneys) or be a relevant professional (doctor, solicitor, registered social worker, etc.). Source: gov.uk — certificate provider rules.

The signing order matters

The LPA must be signed by everyone in this strict order for the OPG to accept it:

1. The Donor signs first, witnessed by an adult.
2. The Certificate Provider signs next (a different person from the witness).
3. Each Attorney and Replacement Attorney signs last, each signature witnessed by an adult who is not the donor and not another attorney being witnessed.

In our experience, getting the signing order wrong is the single most common reason the OPG rejects an LPA — sending you back to the queue and (if you used a paid service) sometimes triggering another fee. The signing order is set out in the LPA form itself, and the GOV.UK online journey now guides users through it; even so, errors persist.

What an attorney can and cannot do

An attorney must always act in line with the five core principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, s.1:

1. Assume the donor has capacity unless it’s established otherwise.
2. Take all practicable steps to help the donor make their own decisions before treating them as unable.
3. Don’t treat the donor as unable to decide just because they make an unwise decision.
4. Act, and decide, in the donor’s best interests.
5. Choose the least restrictive option that still achieves the purpose.

An attorney cannot: make a new will or change an existing one for the donor; consent to marriage or civil partnership; vote in elections; make gifts beyond the limited statutory authority for “customary occasions” (birthdays, weddings, Christmas) of a reasonable size relative to the estate; use the donor’s funds for the attorney’s own benefit unless specifically authorised in the LPA. Larger gifts need an application to the Court of Protection.

What happens without an LPA — Court of Protection deputyship

If you lose mental capacity without an LPA in place, no one can step into your shoes by default — not even a spouse or child. The only remaining route is for a family member to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy.

A deputyship has significant downsides compared with an LPA:

• Cost: typically around £1,200 in year one (application fee £371, plus assessment, security bond and solicitor’s fees), then ongoing supervision fees (~£320/year general supervision, ~£35/year for low-value estates) plus annual report preparation.
• Time: around 4–6 months from application to deputy order in straightforward cases — and during that period nobody can legally deal with the affected person’s finances.
• Scope: deputies are tightly supervised by the OPG, must file annual accounts, and need separate Court permission for many actions (selling property, making larger gifts, changes to investments).
• Health and welfare deputyships are rare: the Court only appoints health and welfare deputies in the most serious cases — for most everyday medical decisions an LPA is the only practical route.

In short: a few hundred pounds and an afternoon spent making LPAs now spares your family thousands of pounds, half a year of legal limbo, and ongoing reporting if you later lose capacity.

Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) — what they are and what to do with them

Until 30 September 2007, the equivalent of today’s Property & Financial LPA was the Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA), created under the now-repealed Enduring Powers of Attorney Act 1985. No new EPAs have been created since 1 October 2007.

EPAs signed and witnessed before 1 October 2007 remain legally valid and can still be used (gov.uk — Enduring Power of Attorney) — but only for property and financial affairs. EPAs do not cover health and welfare decisions.

If you have a pre-2007 EPA, the practical options are:

• Keep the EPA for finances — it remains valid — and make a new Health & Welfare LPA alongside it.
• Replace the EPA with a new Property & Financial Affairs LPA, gaining the modern Mental Capacity Act safeguards and the more flexible LPA framework.

In our experience, the second route is usually preferable for anyone with significant assets, complex family structures, or attorneys who would benefit from the clearer modern framework. But the choice is genuinely case-specific.

Ordinary / general powers of attorney — for short-term use only

A general (or “ordinary”) power of attorney is a simpler, short-term document that gives someone authority to act on your behalf while you still have mental capacity — typically used when you are abroad, in hospital, or temporarily unable to handle paperwork. The key limitation: an ordinary power of attorney automatically ends if you lose mental capacity. It is no substitute for an LPA. Use cases include conveyancing transactions where the buyer is overseas, or business arrangements where one director needs to sign for another.

The 8 most common LPA mistakes (and how to avoid them)

1. Wrong signing order — donor → certificate provider → attorneys. Getting this wrong is the most common rejection reason.
2. Witness conflicts — the witness for an attorney’s signature must not be the donor of that LPA, nor another attorney being witnessed. The witness for the donor’s signature must be aged 18+; a family member usually qualifies, but cannot be an attorney.
3. Attorney choice that ages badly — appointing only one attorney (no replacement), or appointing attorneys who are similar ages to you (so they may lose capacity around the same time you do).
4. Joint vs jointly-and-severally muddle — “joint” means every decision needs every attorney’s agreement; “jointly and severally” means any one attorney can act alone. Most families want “jointly and severally” for practicality, with a “must consult” instruction for big decisions.
5. Forgetting the life-sustaining-treatment option — on the Health & Welfare LPA you must tick one of two boxes about giving your attorney authority over life-sustaining treatment; both boxes ticked, or neither, makes the LPA invalid.
6. Picking the wrong certificate provider — has to be independent (not a family member, not an attorney) and either have known you 2+ years or be a relevant professional. Getting this wrong means the OPG rejects the LPA.
7. Not telling the people you might want to be notified — the optional “people to be told” step gives others a chance to object before registration. Skipping it is allowed (and many families do); using it adds about 3 weeks to the timeline.
8. Sitting on the registered LPA — once registered, keep the original safe, give your attorneys copies, and tell the relevant institutions (your bank, GP, care provider) it exists. Many families register an LPA then never tell anyone, defeating the purpose when capacity is later lost.

Special LPA situations

Business owners

If you run a business, the standard Property & Financial Affairs LPA covers everything — but in our experience it is often better to make a separate business LPA with different attorneys (e.g. a business partner or trusted senior employee) so the personal and business decision-making chains stay clean. This is a specialist drafting exercise.

Couples

Couples can each appoint the other as primary attorney with a replacement attorney as back-up (often an adult child or trusted sibling) — but in our experience naming only the spouse is risky for older couples, because the chance you both lose capacity within a short window is higher than people think.

Parents of adult children with learning disabilities or mental ill-health

Parents commonly assume they will continue to make decisions for an adult child with reduced capacity — this is wrong. Once a child turns 18, parents need the child’s LPA (if they have capacity to make one) or a Court of Protection deputyship. The right route depends on the child’s capacity at the relevant time; specialist advice from a solicitor experienced in mental capacity work is strongly recommended.

People with limited capacity but not none

Capacity is decision-specific under the Mental Capacity Act, not all-or-nothing. Someone with early-stage dementia may still have capacity to make an LPA if they understand the nature and effect of it at the time of signing — the certificate provider’s role is precisely to confirm this. Don’t assume someone has “lost their chance” without taking professional advice.

How to make an LPA — the process in plain English

1. Decide which LPA(s) you need. Most adults: both Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare.
2. Choose your attorneys — and at least one replacement. Talk to them first; being an attorney is a meaningful responsibility.
3. Identify your certificate provider. Independent, known you 2+ years (or a relevant professional).
4. Fill in the forms — at gov.uk’s online LPA service, or on paper (forms LP1F for finances, LP1H for health and welfare). Online is faster but you still need wet-ink signatures from everyone.
5. Sign in the strict order: donor → certificate provider → attorneys.
6. Optional: notify “people to be told” — friends, family, advisers you’d want to know about the LPA. Adds about 3 weeks.
7. Send to the OPG with the £92 fee (per LPA). Wait 14–20 weeks for registration.
8. Once registered: keep the original safe, give certified copies to your attorneys, and tell your bank, GP and any care providers it exists.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Lasting Power of Attorney cost in 2026?

The Office of the Public Guardian charges £92 per LPA to register (£184 for both types). Beyond that, professional help typically adds £150–£600 per LPA depending on who drafts it. Means-tested fee reductions and exemptions are available for low-income donors (gov.uk — reduced fees).

How long does an LPA take to register?

Typically 14–20 weeks at the OPG in 2026, plus 1–3 weeks of form-completion and signing time. The LPA is not legally usable until the date of registration.

Do I need both types of LPA?

In our experience, yes — for most adults. The Property & Financial LPA can be used as soon as registered (with your permission); the Health & Welfare LPA only kicks in if you lose capacity. They cover different and complementary scenarios.

Can my spouse automatically make decisions for me if I lose capacity?

No. There is a common misconception that spouses, civil partners or “next of kin” can step in automatically. They cannot — without an LPA or a Court of Protection order, no one (including a spouse) has legal authority to operate your bank account, sign legal documents, or make medical decisions for you. The only routes are a registered LPA or a Court of Protection deputyship after the loss of capacity.

Are old EPAs still valid?

Enduring Powers of Attorney signed and witnessed before 1 October 2007 remain valid for property and financial affairs (gov.uk — EPA). They do not cover health and welfare — for which a Health & Welfare LPA is the only modern option. Many holders of pre-2007 EPAs sit alongside a Health & Welfare LPA; others choose to replace the EPA with a new Property & Financial Affairs LPA.

What is a Court of Protection deputy and how is it different?

A deputy is someone appointed by the Court of Protection to make decisions for a person who has already lost capacity and has no LPA in place. Deputyship typically costs around £1,200 in year one plus ongoing supervision fees, takes 4–6 months to set up, and involves ongoing Court oversight. An LPA made in advance avoids all of this.

Can an attorney be reimbursed for time or expenses?

Reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred while acting as attorney can be reimbursed from the donor’s funds. Whether the attorney can charge for their time depends on whether the LPA gives express authorisation; without it, no payment is permitted under the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice. Professional attorneys (solicitors, accountants) are paid where the LPA specifically authorises it.

Can I change or revoke my LPA?

Yes — while you have capacity. You can change attorneys, instructions or preferences by revoking the existing LPA and registering a new one. Revocation must be on form LPA001 sent to the OPG; instructions to your attorneys aren’t enough on their own.

Talk to us about an LPA

If you want to make an LPA but find the forms or the choices daunting, we offer a free initial consultation to discuss your situation and the realistic options. Our LPA pricing is transparent and fixed — no hourly clocks running.

Related guides

• Where to get Lasting Power of Attorney forms in the UK
• How to set up Power of Attorney in the UK
• How long does an LPA take in the UK?
• How long does the OPG take to register an LPA?
• Who can witness a Lasting Power of Attorney
• LPA witness rules — who can sign and who can’t
• Signing an LPA — the proper order
• Updating your LPA address with the OPG
• How much does a Lasting Power of Attorney cost in 2026?

Sources

1. Mental Capacity Act 2005 — full text on legislation.gov.uk.
2. Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice — gov.uk.
3. HM Government / Office of the Public Guardian — Make, register or end a Lasting Power of Attorney.
4. OPG — Types of Lasting Power of Attorney.
5. OPG — Register a Lasting Power of Attorney.
6. OPG — Reduced fees and exemptions.
7. OPG — Certificate provider rules.
8. HM Government — Enduring Power of Attorney: attorney duties.
9. Ministry of Justice — Modernising Lasting Powers of Attorney consultation.
10. HM Courts & Tribunals Service — Court of Protection.