Estate planning documents

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney — an LPA — is one of the most important documents you can put in place, and one of the most commonly overlooked. Most people think about estate planning in terms of what happens when they die. An LPA is about what happens if you lose the ability to manage your own affairs while you're still alive. It gives someone you trust the legal authority to step in and act on your behalf — not because you've asked them to, but because they have the legal standing to do so even if you can't ask.

Two types — two purposes

There are two separate LPAs, and they cover different aspects of your life. Most people put both in place at the same time, because the circumstances that make one necessary often make the other relevant too.

Property & Financial Affairs LPA

This covers your financial life — bank accounts, investments, property, bills, and any other financial matters. Unlike the Health & Welfare LPA, this one can be used while you still have capacity, if you choose to allow it. That can be useful if you simply want help managing things, or if you're abroad for an extended period. It must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used in any capacity.

Health & Welfare LPA

This covers decisions about your medical treatment, care arrangements, where you live, and your day-to-day welfare. It can only be used once you've lost mental capacity — it gives your attorney a legal voice in decisions that would otherwise be made by medical professionals and care providers without your family having any formal standing. Without one, even a spouse has no automatic right to be involved in these decisions.

The people involved

• The donor

  • The person creating the LPA — you. You must have mental capacity at the time the document is made. Once capacity is lost, it's too late to create one.

• The attorney

  • The person — or people — you appoint to act on your behalf. An attorney must be over 18 and, for a Property & Financial Affairs LPA, must not be bankrupt. You can appoint more than one attorney and specify whether they must act jointly on every decision, or can act jointly and severally — meaning independently if needed. Choosing the right attorney is one of the most important decisions in the whole document. It doesn't have to be a professional — it just has to be someone you trust completely to act in your best interests, not their own.

• The certificate provider

  • A neutral person — usually someone who has known you for at least two years, or a professional such as a solicitor or doctor — who confirms that you understand what you're signing, that you're not being pressured into it, and that you have the capacity to make the decision. This is a safeguard built into the process to protect the donor.

• Replacement attorneys

  • You can name a backup attorney who steps in if your original attorney is unable or unwilling to act. This is worth thinking about carefully — particularly where an attorney is a spouse or partner who might themselves lose capacity, or where circumstances might change.

LPA versus General Power of Attorney

A General Power of Attorney — a GPA — is a simpler document, usually used for short-term or specific purposes: managing finances while abroad, for example, or delegating authority during a recovery from illness. The critical difference is this: a GPA is only valid while the donor has mental capacity. The moment capacity is lost, it becomes void — which is precisely when most people need it most. An LPA remains valid after capacity is lost, which is what makes it an essential planning tool rather than a temporary convenience.

Something worth understanding

Without an LPA, your family may not be able to help you

This is the point that surprises most people. There is no automatic right — not for a spouse, not for an adult child, not for anyone — to manage another person's financial affairs or make decisions about their care if that person loses capacity and hasn't put an LPA in place. Banks will freeze accounts. Medical decisions will be made without a formal advocate. Property cannot be sold or managed. The only route available to the family is to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order — a process that is considerably more expensive, far slower, and significantly more stressful than setting up an LPA would ever have been.

"Think of an LPA like insurance. You put it in place hoping you'll never need it. But if you do — and you can't act for yourself — it makes your loved ones' lives so much easier at a time when everything else is already hard. The families who have one in place are always in a better position than those who don't."

Things to consider

• Register before you need it

  • An LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. Registration currently takes several weeks. If you wait until capacity is already in question, it may be too late to create one at all — and certainly too late to register it in time. The right time to put an LPA in place is well before it's needed, while it's simply a sensible precaution rather than an urgent necessity.

• Instructions and preferences

  • An LPA can include specific instructions that your attorney must follow, and preferences that you'd like them to take into account. Instructions are legally binding — they limit or direct how the attorney acts. Preferences are guidance — they inform the attorney's decisions without tying their hands. Getting this balance right is important, and it's worth thinking carefully about what you do and don't want to specify.

• Revoking an LPA

  • An LPA can be cancelled or changed at any point, provided the donor still has mental capacity to do so. Once capacity is lost, it cannot be revoked. This is another reason to put LPAs in place early — while there's still the freedom to change your mind if circumstances or relationships change.

• Choosing attorneys wisely

  • Attorneys are given significant authority — particularly under a Property & Financial Affairs LPA. They must keep records, act in the donor's best interests, and adhere to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. Choosing someone reliable, organised, and honest is essential. Where there's any concern about a single attorney acting without oversight, appointing a second attorney or a professional to act alongside them is worth considering.

"The question isn't whether you trust the person you're appointing — it's whether, under real pressure, at a difficult time, with real money and real decisions involved, they will do the right thing. That's the standard to hold the choice to."

Who LPAs are relevant for

Everyone. LPAs are not just for older people or those with health concerns. Accidents, illness, and sudden changes in capacity can happen at any age, and the consequences of not having an LPA in place are the same regardless of how old you are. For younger people, a Property & Financial Affairs LPA in particular is often more immediately useful than a Will — because incapacity is statistically more likely to affect them during their lifetime than death is in the near term. For older people, both LPAs are essential planning tools that should be in place well before they're needed.