A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a crucial legal document that ensures your wishes are honoured if you ever find yourself unable to make decisions for yourself. By setting up an LPA, you’re choosing someone you trust—this could be a family member, close friend, or even a professional—to step in and make decisions on your behalf if you lose the ability to do so. This person, known as your ‘LPA attorney,’ will be legally empowered to act in your best interests, whether it’s managing your finances, making healthcare decisions, or looking after your day-to-day welfare.
The cost of having a solicitor prepare your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can vary quite a bit. Typically, you might be looking at £1,000+, depending on the complexity of your situation and the solicitor’s fees. They’re typically more expensive (no low fixed fee & likely additional costs, with many solicitors charging extra for consultations, admin, and revisions, all adding to the cost), slower (you may have to wait weeks for a solicitor’s availability & solicitor-led processes often involve back-and-forth emails and meetings) & harder (solicitors may overcomplicate things, making the process feel intimidating & you’ll likely need in-person meetings, adding hassle and time.) than using a service like PowerofAttorneyOnline.co.uk. Keep in mind, this is in addition to the £82 per application fee that the government charges to register each LPA.
At PowerofAttorneyOnline.co.uk, we charge £99 per document to help you complete both your Health & Welfare and Property & Finance Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) forms. This is cheaper (many solicitors charge £1,000+ per LPA, while PowerOfAttorneyOnline.co.uk offers a low-cost fixed fee), quicker (unlike a solicitor, you can start your application immediately online, get it done in as little as 15 minutes with easy-to-follow instructions & reduce delays caused by mistakes that can slow down registration) & easier than going through a traditional solicitor (the process is designed to be clear and stress-free, including support along the way without the hassle of back-and-forth meetings & no need to travel to an office; do it from the comfort of your home).
On top of that, there’s a government fee of £82 per application to register each LPA. However, if you’re on means-tested benefits, this registration fee is waived. If you earn under £12,000 a year, you qualify for a 50% discount, bringing the fee down to £41.
There are two main types of LPAs, and you can set up one or both, depending on your needs. PowerofAttorneyOnline.co.uk offers an application service for both:
- Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney: This type of LPA gives your LPA attorney the authority to make decisions about your personal health and welfare. This includes everything from your daily routine—like what you eat or how you dress—to more significant decisions like what medical treatments you should receive or where you should live. However, this type of LPA only comes into play when you’re no longer capable of making these decisions yourself. Until that point, you remain fully in charge of your own healthcare decisions.
- Finance and Property Lasting Power of Attorney: This LPA covers all the financial aspects of your life. Your LPA attorney will be able to manage your bank accounts, pay your bills, collect your benefits or pension, and even buy or sell property on your behalf. You have the flexibility to decide when this LPA takes effect. You can allow your LPA attorney to start managing your finances immediately with your permission, or you can choose for it to kick in only if you lose the capacity to make those decisions yourself.
Having these LPAs in place can bring significant peace of mind, knowing that if life takes an unexpected turn, someone you trust will be there to make sure things are handled the way you would want.
To prove you have Lasting Power of Attorney, you’ll need to show the official registered document that you received from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). When you register the LPA, the OPG sends you a stamped, certified copy of the document. This is your proof of authority. Whenever you need to act on behalf of the person who granted you the power, you’ll present this certified copy to the relevant organisations, like banks, healthcare providers, or government offices. Some organisations might ask for a certified copy of the LPA, so it’s a good idea to have a few on hand.
Yes, a Lasting Power of Attorney can be revoked, and it’s actually a pretty simple process. The person who granted the Power of Attorney, known as the ‘LPA donor,’ can revoke it at any time as long as they still have mental capacity. To do this, they’ll need to send a written notice to the LPA attorney stating that the Lasting Power of Attorney is revoked. It’s also wise to inform anyone else who might be relying on that LPA—like banks or healthcare providers—so they know the LPA attorney no longer has authority. The LPA donor should also inform the the Office of the Public Guardian in writing.
If you need to change who your LPA attorney is, you can do so, but it involves a bit of paperwork. First, you’ll need to revoke the existing LPA, which, as mentioned, is done by the LPA donor (the person who created the LPA) if they still have mental capacity. Once that’s done, you can set up a new LPA with the changes you want—whether it’s appointing a new LPA attorney or updating other details. The new LPA will need to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, just like the original one. Remember, if the LPA donor has already lost mental capacity, it becomes more complex to change an LPA attorney, often requiring a court decision.
No, a Lasting Power of Attorney does not have the authority to change a will. The role of an LPA attorney under an LPA is to make decisions on behalf of the LPA donor based on their current wishes and best interests, not to alter their final wishes as expressed in a will. Changing a will is something only the person who made the will (the testator) can do, and they must have the mental capacity to do so. If someone suspects that a will needs changing due to unforeseen circumstances and the testator lacks capacity, they’d need to seek legal advice, and it may require a decision from the court.
Yes, a Lasting Power of Attorney automatically ends when the person who granted it, known as the LPA donor, passes away. At that point, the authority of the LPA attorney ends, and the responsibility for managing the LPA donor’s affairs typically passes to the executor of the will or, if there’s no will, to the administrator appointed by the probate court. The LPA attorney is no longer allowed to make decisions or manage the LPA donor’s finances or property after death.