Last Updated: August 13, 2026
You may have heard about Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) and have questions about its usefulness as you move into later life. In this article, Donna Holmes, Partner and Head of the Private Client Team at Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP, breaks the topic down into manageable sections to make the decision more straightforward when the time comes.
Broadcaster Kate Garraway’s experience caring for her husband, Derek Draper, after he contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, brought the issue of LPA into sharp public focus. Derek spent over a year in hospital, much of it in a coma, before being cared for at home with round-the-clock support. He sadly passed away in January 2024, and Kate has since spoken openly, including in the ITV documentaries Finding Derek, Caring for Derek and Derek’s Story, about the practical and financial difficulties of managing a loved one’s affairs without the right legal documents in place.
It’s a sobering reminder that even a well-known public figure with significant resources can find it difficult to navigate finances and care decisions for a loved one without an LPA already in place. Planning ahead remains one of the simplest ways to protect the people we love from that added stress.
What is an LPA?
An LPA is a legal document that lets the person making it (the “Donor”) appoint someone they trust (an “Attorney”) to make decisions on their behalf if they become unable to do so themselves.
A loss of capacity might be temporary, following a short-term illness or injury from which the Donor recovers, or it might be permanent. Either way, the Attorney can effectively stand in the Donor’s shoes and take the action the Donor could have taken for themselves. There are two types of LPA: one for financial decisions and one for health and care decisions.
Can an LPA Only Be Used If the Donor Has Lost Capacity?
A health and care LPA can only be used once the Donor has lost capacity. Nobody can make care decisions on a Donor’s behalf while the Donor is still able to make them.
A financial LPA is different. A Donor can choose to let their Attorney(s) use it on their authority and instruction even before any loss of capacity, if they want to. This can help if the Donor has mobility issues, struggles to sign documents, or finds it hard to deal with banks or utility companies by phone. The Donor still makes their own decisions, but the Attorney can handle the practical legwork, including the joys of sitting on hold to a call centre for an hour.
Why Would I Need an LPA (or Two)?
It helps to think of an LPA like buildings and contents insurance. You hope you’ll never need it, but you take it out “just in case.” An LPA is the same kind of insurance policy for your financial needs and welfare if illness or injury leaves you unable to manage them yourself.
If a sudden event such as a stroke or serious accident leaves a Donor incapacitated, having the right legal documents in place removes a layer of stress from loved ones, letting them focus on the person rather than on practicalities, data protection wrangles, or court applications.
Most people benefit from both types of LPA. Everyone has financial matters that need looking after. On the health and care side, while doctors and the state will step in if there’s no one else, having a health and care LPA in place means your chosen people can be involved in your care decisions quickly and easily, without needing to prove they fall within the categories of people the law says should be consulted. It removes friction at an already difficult time.
Who Should Be Appointed as Attorney(s)?
The deciding factor should always be trust. Your Attorney(s) could end up deciding how your money is invested and spent, which care home you live in, or what medical treatment you receive, so it matters that you trust them completely and that your views are aligned.
A common recommendation is to appoint two or three people who fall into that highly trusted category, ideally people who work well together, appointed on a joint and several basis. That way, if one Attorney is ill, away, or has died before you, you still have someone ready to act.
How Do I Make an LPA (or Two)?
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and the Ministry of Justice have been modernising the LPA system under the Powers of Attorney Act 2023. The aim is to move the process online, speed up registration, and add stronger identity checks to guard against fraud. As the new digital service rolls out, the OPG’s 2024–25 annual report confirms it continues to support an improved paper process for anyone who can’t, or doesn’t want to, apply online.
In practice, this means you now have a genuine choice:
- Make it yourself online, free of charge, via the GOV.UK Lasting Power of Attorney service. You still need your Attorneys, replacement Attorneys, and a certificate provider to sign.
- Use a solicitor or specialist LPA service, typically £300–£600 per document with a solicitor, or less with a will-writer or estate planner, which is worth considering if your situation involves business assets, overseas property, blended families, or detailed restrictions on how your Attorneys can act.
Whichever route you take, the OPG registration fee is currently £92 per LPA (raised from £82 on 17 November 2025), so £184 if you register both types. If your gross annual income is under £12,000, you may qualify for a 50% reduction; some people on qualifying benefits are exempt entirely, though note that from February 2026, receiving Universal Credit no longer automatically qualifies you for a reduction, so it’s worth checking your eligibility on GOV.UK rather than assuming.
GOV.UK’s published timescale is that registration takes 8 to 10 weeks if the application is error-free, and applying online is generally quicker than paper. In practice, several legal commentators have reported longer real-world waits during 2025–26 while the OPG works through its digital transition, so it’s sensible to start the process well before you think you’ll need it, rather than waiting for a crisis.
As before, taking professional advice, particularly from a solicitor accredited through the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) or Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE), helps ensure the forms include every power your Attorneys might need, and reduces the risk of rejection and re-submission.
How Do You “Use” an LPA?
Once signed and registered, the OPG returns the LPA with official stamps confirming it’s valid. A certified copy can then be given to relevant organisations, banks, financial advisers, utility companies, GPs, care home managers, so they can update their records to reflect your Attorneys’ authority. Attorneys may also need to provide proof of identity. Donors can certify their own copies, or a solicitor can provide solicitor-certified copies, so the original document doesn’t need to be passed around and can be kept safe.
What If Someone Has Lost Capacity but Didn’t Have an LPA?
Without an LPA, a family may need to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship order instead. This is a more expensive and considerably slower route: current GOV.UK fees run to roughly £371 for the application plus an ongoing £320 annual supervision fee (£35 for minimal supervision, plus a £100 assessment fee for new deputies), and the process commonly takes four to six months, compared with the 8-to-10-week LPA registration timeline. A judge, not the family, decides who is appointed. If the person’s only income is state benefits, a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) appointeeship may be a more proportionate alternative.
Conclusion
LPAs remain one of the most useful, and most overlooked, legal documents available. They let Donors decide now who will make financial and care decisions on their behalf later, giving both the Donor and their loved ones peace of mind at what would otherwise be a stressful time. With the LPA system moving online and registration fees and processes continuing to evolve, getting professional advice early remains the most reliable way to avoid delays.
If you need advice about making an LPA, or if someone you know has lost capacity without one in place, contact [email protected].
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