What Is a Lasting Power of Attorney, and Do I Need One?

You have almost certainly heard the term. Perhaps a friend mentioned it, a financial adviser brought it up, or you read about it after a family member's health changed unexpectedly. But what exactly is a Lasting Power of Attorney, who needs one, and do you really need one right now? No jargon, no pressure, just a clear answer.

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you, while you still have full mental capacity, appoint one or more people you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you ever lose the ability to make them yourself. The person creating it is the donor; the people appointed are attorneys, who must be over 18 and have capacity themselves.

The key word is lasting. Unlike an ordinary power of attorney, which becomes void if the donor loses capacity, an LPA is designed to remain in force at the moment it is most needed. Capacity can be lost at any age, through dementia, stroke, brain injury or other illness, and an LPA ensures the right people can act, rather than leaving it to a court or to chance.

The two types of LPA

There are two types in England and Wales. They cover completely different areas of life, and most people need both.

Property and Financial Affairs

This lets your attorney manage your money and property: bank and savings accounts, bills and household expenses, pension and benefits, tax, and buying, selling or managing property. With your permission it can be used as soon as it is registered, even while you still have capacity, so an attorney can help you now if you would welcome support. While you remain capable, you stay in control; your attorney acts alongside you, not instead of you.

Health and Welfare

This lets your attorney make decisions about where you live, your medical treatment, your day-to-day care, and life-sustaining treatment if you grant that authority. Unlike the financial LPA, it can only be used once you have lost capacity for the decision in question. It ensures that when the time comes, the person who knows you best, not a stranger or a court, has the legal standing to speak for you.

Medical and life-sustaining treatment decisions are also where an Advance Directive comes in, though it works differently to an LPA. It lets you refuse specific treatments in advance, in your own words, rather than appointing someone else to decide for you. Many people choose to put both in place together.

Why do so many people not have one?

Research commissioned by Solicitors for the Elderly found that 87% of people want their family or friends to be able to make decisions for them if they lose capacity, but only 7% have actually set up an LPA. It is not that people do not care; it is that most assume their family could simply step in. That assumption feels natural, but it is legally wrong.

The most common misconception

The single most widespread belief about LPAs is that a spouse, partner or close family member automatically has the right to make decisions for you if you lose capacity. They do not. In England and Wales there is no automatic authority by virtue of being a family member. Without a registered LPA:

• Your bank will not let your spouse access accounts held in your sole name
• A joint account may be frozen if one holder loses capacity
• No family member can legally manage your financial affairs
• No family member has an enforceable right to decide your medical treatment or care
• The only route is a Court of Protection deputyship application, typically four to ten months, with substantial cost, and the court, not your family, has the final say

This catches out couples who own their home or bank accounts jointly just as often, joint ownership isn't the same as legal authority to act for each other. See exactly why, and what to do about it.

Who needs an LPA?

Honestly, every adult over 18. LPAs are still associated with old age, but loss of capacity is not only an old-age risk. It is particularly important for young adults living independently, unmarried couples (there is no common-law marriage in English law), parents of young children, homeowners, business owners, those approaching retirement, and anyone with a family history of dementia or serious illness.

The rule that changes everything

An LPA can only be created while you still have full mental capacity. Once capacity is lost, it is legally too late to make one. You cannot wait for a diagnosis, create one retrospectively, or fast-track one in a crisis. Registration also takes roughly 8 to 10 weeks for a correctly completed application, so the earlier you act, the smaller the window in which you are unprotected.

What happens if you don't have one?

Your family's only option is a Court of Protection deputyship, the court's substitute for the LPA that should have been made in advance. It is slower (often many months), considerably more expensive (court fees, legal costs, annual supervision), and carries ongoing court oversight. Health and welfare deputyships are rarely granted at all, so a family may end up with no legal authority over the most personal decisions of all.

How is an LPA set up, and what does it cost?

Most people set up both types together. You choose your attorneys, the forms are completed correctly (nearly one in ten applications are rejected for errors), and the LPA is registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. The OPG fee is currently £92 per LPA (£184 for both), with reductions for those on certain benefits. We provide clear, fixed-price advice and handle all the paperwork.

An LPA and a Will, how they fit together

You need both. A Will sets out what happens to your estate after death. An LPA protects you during your lifetime, appointing someone to act if you lose capacity. Each protects a different stage of life; neither substitutes for the other.

You do not need to be elderly or unwell to make an LPA worth having. You simply need to be an adult who would rather make the decision calmly and deliberately than leave it to a court. We help families across North Somerset, Bristol and Bath set up both types of LPA, at home, in plain English, and we handle the paperwork so it is done correctly first time.

You can also set an LPA up entirely online, our online LPA service walks through what that looks like.

"Power of Attorney" is a broad term covering several different legal documents that let someone act on your behalf, they're not all the same, and the difference matters.

An "ordinary" or "general" Power of Attorney only covers financial matters, and stops working the moment you lose mental capacity. It's really designed for temporary situations, being abroad, recovering from surgery, or simply wanting someone to handle things for a while, not for the situation most people are actually planning for. Read more about General Power of Attorney and when it makes sense.

A Lasting Power of Attorney is different. Once it's registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, it continues to be valid even after you lose capacity, which is precisely the point of having one. There are two types, Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare, covering different decisions, and most people benefit from setting up both.

If a Power of Attorney was made before October 2007, it may be an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA), an older document that, like an LPA, continues after loss of capacity, but only ever covered financial matters. EPAs made before that date are still valid, but it's no longer possible to create a new one.

In 2026, setting up an LPA costs from £92 per document, the Office of the Public Guardian's registration fee, or £184 for both types. Using a solicitor or specialist adviser typically adds £300–£600 per LPA on top, though many providers offer combined packages. Fee reductions or exemptions may apply if you're on a low income or receive certain benefits. Read our full 2026 LPA cost guide for a complete breakdown.

If you're helping a parent set up their LPA, or already acting as their attorney, it helps to know exactly where the boundaries are, what you can access, what you can spend, and what's off-limits. Read our full guide to Power of Attorney for a parent for a clear, honest breakdown.