Lasting Power
of Attorney FAQs

Our first step of the process will be to arrange a convenient time to discuss the LPA over the telephone with you, or we are always happy to visit you at your home if this would put you more at ease.

You will need to provide us with full names, addresses and dates of birth for both you and your Attorneys. The Donor and each Attorney will need to sign the forms in the presence of a witness.

You will usually need to choose a person to be notified that you are preparing the LPAs. This person will simply receive a notice at the point of registration, although they are entitled to object if they feel you should not be preparing the LPA.

The final requirement for the completion of the LPA is that a certificate is signed by a third party, called the Certificate Provider. The Certificate Provider must either be an independent person chosen by you, who has known you personally for more than two years, or a person with a professional skill, such as a solicitor or medical professional, and they must sign a section in the LPA to confirm that they believe that you:

• understand the purpose of the LPA;
• understand the extent of the powers you are giving the attorney;
• are not being pressurised to prepare the LPA.

Once all sections have been signed, the LPA can be registered. The Office of the Public Guardian is in charge of registering all LPAs, for which a charge £82.00 per LPA is applied, although they will offer a reduction based on income, or a complete exemption if certain benefits are received. For further advice and guidance, contact our expert lawyers to discuss your LPA needs.

The decision as to who to appoint as your attorney is not to be taken lightly. Your attorney should be trustworthy, have the appropriate skills to make the proposed decisions and you should have full confidence that he or she will act in your best interests.

You can choose to appoint up to four attorneys and up to four replacement attorneys. An attorney must be over the age of 18 and for the Property and Financial Affairs LPA, your attorney must not have been declared bankrupt or be subject to ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

If you appoint more than one attorney, you can appoint them to act together (jointly) or so that they can make decisions independently as well as together (jointly and severally). You can even instruct your attorneys to make some decisions jointly and other decisions independently

In order for a LPA to be valid, it must first of all be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). Once registered, the LPA for Financial and Property Affairs can be used immediately.

You can choose to register your LPA immediately once it has been granted or you can decide to wait to register at a later date. Our expert solicitors at NewLaw will discuss with you at the time of preparing your LPA whether it is suitable to delay registration or whether you should consider registering your LPA straight away.

The LPA for Health and Welfare on the other hand, can only be used by your attorney once you have lost the mental capacity to make your own decisions.

If you lose capacity to make your own decisions without a LPA in place, then it may be necessary for an application to be made to the Court of Protection for them to appoint a suitable person to make decisions on your behalf. This person is known as a Deputy.

The Court is far more likely to appoint a Deputy in relation to property and financial matters. Where an issue relates to health and welfare, the Court is more reluctant to appoint a Deputy to make these decisions and will usually leave matters to social services.

The process of applying to the Court of Protection is lengthy and costly and it may result in someone being appointed who you would not necessarily have chosen to manage your affairs. For expert advice contact our specialist team, who will guide you with options on making the right decision for your circumstances.