Two types of lasting power of attorney: when each can be used

Two documents under one Act

Section 9 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 defines a lasting power of attorney as a document by which a person, the donor, gives one or more attorneys authority to make decisions about either their personal welfare, or their property and affairs, or specified matters within either. The two are separate documents, made on separate forms, registered separately and paid for separately. A person can make one, the other, or both, and most people who make one should make both.

Section 9 also says that an LPA is not created unless it is made in the prescribed form, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian, and made by a donor who was 18 or over and had capacity when they signed it. A document that fails any of those confers no authority at all. That is the first thing to understand about the timing: an unregistered LPA is a piece of paper.

Our guide to lasting powers of attorney covers why to make them and how attorneys are chosen. This one is about the difference between the two types and the practical rules that follow from it.

Property and financial affairs

The property and financial affairs LPA covers money and property: bank and building society accounts, paying bills, collecting pensions and benefits, managing investments, dealing with tax, and buying or selling property. Gov.uk describes it as usable as soon as it is registered, with the donor's permission.

That permission is the point that distinguishes it. When the form is completed, the donor chooses between two options: the attorneys can act as soon as the LPA is registered, or only when the donor lacks capacity. The first is the more common choice and the more useful one. A donor who is in hospital for three months, or abroad, or simply finding the paperwork too much, can ask an attorney to deal with the bank without anybody having to assess their capacity. The donor keeps full authority over their own affairs alongside the attorney for as long as they have capacity, and can give directions and revoke the power.

The second option means the attorney has to be able to show the bank that the donor lacks capacity before the bank will deal with them. Some donors want that safeguard. It comes at the cost of every institution asking for evidence, and of the attorney being unable to help with anything short of full incapacity.

Health and welfare

The health and welfare LPA covers the donor's daily routine, including washing, dressing and eating, their medical care, where they live and whether they move into a care home, and, if the document allows it, life-sustaining treatment.

Section 11(7) of the Act says the attorney's authority does not extend to making those decisions in circumstances other than where the donor lacks capacity, or the attorney reasonably believes the donor lacks capacity. There is no option to use it earlier. A donor who has capacity makes their own welfare decisions, and the attorney's role is to make them when the donor cannot.

That has a consequence people miss. Capacity is decision-specific. A donor with dementia may lack capacity to decide on a complex course of treatment and still have capacity to decide what to eat and whether to go out, and the attorney's authority is tied to each decision as it arises. An attorney under a welfare LPA is making decisions one at a time, each time asking whether the donor can make this one.

Life-sustaining treatment

Section 11(8) of the Act says a welfare LPA gives the attorney no authority over life-sustaining treatment unless the document contains express provision to that effect, and any authority is subject to the conditions and restrictions the donor has written in. The form has a specific section where the donor chooses whether or not to give that authority, and signs it separately.

Where the donor does not give it, decisions about life-sustaining treatment are made by the treating clinicians in the donor's best interests, consulting the attorney but not bound by them. Where the donor does give it, the attorney's decision to consent or refuse binds the clinicians in the same way the donor's own decision would, subject to the same best interests framework.

The choice is personal and it is one to talk through with the attorney before the form is signed. An attorney who does not know what the donor wanted is in a hard position when the question arrives, and the preferences and instructions sections of the form are the place to write it down.

The certificate provider

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act requires the document to include a certificate by a person of a prescribed description confirming that, when the donor signed, the donor understood the purpose of the document and the scope of the authority, that no fraud or undue pressure was being used to induce the donor to make it, and that there was nothing else preventing an LPA being created.

The Office of the Public Guardian's guide describes two kinds of certificate provider. One is a person with relevant professional skills, such as the donor's GP, a solicitor or barrister, a registered social worker or an independent mental capacity advocate. The other is somebody who has known the donor well for at least two years and is more than an acquaintance. Gov.uk confirms that the certificate provider must be 18 or over and that an attorney cannot be the certificate provider, though attorneys can witness each other's signatures.

The certificate is the safeguard that stands in for a capacity assessment, and it is also the first thing looked at when an LPA is challenged later. A donor whose capacity is in any doubt, because of a diagnosis or of age, is better served by a professional certificate provider who has recorded their assessment, and for a donor with a large estate or a family likely to disagree the same applies.

Registration, the fee and the wait

The forms are sent to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration, and the figures below were checked on gov.uk today, 22 September 2026. The fee is £92 for each LPA, so £184 for both types. A donor with an income below £12,000 a year can apply for a reduced fee, and a donor receiving certain means-tested benefits can apply for an exemption. Where the OPG finds a mistake in the form and allows a correction, resubmitting within three months costs £46.

Gov.uk says registration takes 8 to 10 weeks where there are no mistakes in the application. An LPA with an error goes back to the donor, and the clock restarts. That figure and the section 9 rule together mean a donor who wants an LPA available in an emergency needs to make it at least three months before the emergency, which is why making them early and leaving them registered in a drawer is the sound approach.

Before the OPG registers, the people the donor named to be notified are told and have a period in which to object. Once registered, the LPA can be used within the limits described above, and the attorney can be asked by any institution to produce the registered document or the OPG's online confirmation of it.

The online service and the 2023 Act

Gov.uk offers an online tool at lastingpowerofattorney.service.gov.uk that guides the donor through the questions, saves progress and produces the forms. The tool does not register anything. The forms it produces have to be printed and signed in ink by the donor, the certificate provider, the attorneys and the witnesses, in the right order, and posted to the OPG. Gov.uk states that digital signatures and signed copies are not accepted.

The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 is intended to change that. It amends the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to allow LPAs to be made and registered online, with identity checks on the people involved and a wider right to object. It received Royal Assent in September 2023. Checked on legislation.gov.uk today, 22 September 2026, section 1 of the Act, which brings in the new process through its Schedule, is still marked as not in force, with commencement left to regulations made by the Lord Chancellor. Until those regulations are made, the paper process above is the only one that produces a valid LPA, and anybody offered a fully digital LPA should ask what will be sent to the OPG.

Business owners and a separate LPA

A property and financial affairs LPA covers the donor's own property and affairs. For a sole trader that includes the business, since there is no separate entity. For a company director or a partner, the position is less tidy. The attorney steps into the donor's shoes as shareholder and can exercise the donor's votes, but cannot act as a director, because a directorship is a personal office that cannot be delegated by power of attorney. What happens to the company depends on the articles of association, which usually provide for a director who has lost capacity to cease to be one, and on whether anybody else is left to run it.

The Office of the Public Guardian's guide says the donor can appoint different attorneys for their personal finances and their business affairs by completing two separate LP1F forms, and suggests doing so where different people should look after different things. In practice that means a business LPA that names a business partner, a fellow director or a trusted professional as attorney for the business assets and the shares, with instructions confined to those, alongside a personal LPA naming a spouse or child for everything else. The alternative is a clause in a single LPA setting out how the attorneys should deal with the business, which works where the same people are right for both.

Either way, the LPA should be read alongside the company's articles and any shareholders' agreement, since those decide what the attorney can achieve with the votes, and a bank mandate should be checked to see whether it will recognise the attorney at all.

Enduring powers made before October 2007

Before the Mental Capacity Act came into force, the equivalent document was an enduring power of attorney. Gov.uk confirms that only an EPA made and signed before 1 October 2007 can still be used, and that after that date donors have had to make an LPA instead. Many people in their seventies and eighties still hold valid EPAs.

An EPA covers property and financial affairs only. There was no welfare equivalent, so a person relying on an EPA has nobody with authority over their care or treatment and needs a welfare LPA to fill the gap, which they can still make if they have capacity. An EPA can be used while the donor has capacity, and gov.uk says it must be registered with the OPG when the donor starts to lose or has lost capacity. That is the reverse of an LPA, which is registered first and used later, and it means an attorney under an EPA has a registration process to go through at exactly the moment they need the document.

Scotland has its own regime under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, with continuing and welfare powers of attorney registered with the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland, and an English LPA is not automatically recognised there.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the two types of LPA?

A property and financial affairs LPA covers money, property, bills, pensions and investments, and with the donor's permission can be used as soon as it is registered, while the donor still has capacity. A health and welfare LPA covers care, medical treatment and where the donor lives, and section 11(7) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 means it can only be used once the donor lacks capacity. They are separate documents with separate fees, and most people should make both.

Can a financial LPA be used while I still have capacity?

Yes, if you choose that option on the form. The form asks whether your attorneys can act as soon as the LPA is registered or only when you lack capacity. The first lets an attorney deal with your bank while you are in hospital or abroad without anybody assessing your capacity, and you keep full control alongside them. The second means every institution will ask the attorney for evidence that you lack capacity before dealing with them.

Can my attorney refuse life-sustaining treatment for me?

Only if your health and welfare LPA expressly gives that authority. Section 11(8) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 says an attorney has no authority over life-sustaining treatment unless the document contains express provision, and the form has a separate section for the choice. If you do not give it, clinicians decide in your best interests, consulting your attorney. Whichever you choose, write your wishes in the preferences section so the attorney is not guessing.

How much does it cost to register an LPA and how long does it take?

On gov.uk on 22 September 2026, the fee is £92 for each LPA, so £184 for both types. A reduced fee is available where the donor's income is under £12,000, and an exemption where they receive certain benefits. Registration takes 8 to 10 weeks where the forms contain no mistakes; a form with an error is returned and resubmitting within three months costs £46. Until it is registered, an LPA gives the attorney no authority at all.

Can I make an LPA entirely online?

Not yet. The gov.uk tool at lastingpowerofattorney.service.gov.uk produces the forms, but they must be printed and signed in ink by everybody involved and posted to the Office of the Public Guardian, and digital signatures are not accepted. The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 will allow a fully online process with identity checks, but on 22 September 2026 legislation.gov.uk still showed section 1 of that Act as not in force, awaiting commencement regulations.

Do I need a separate LPA for my business?

Often, yes. A financial LPA covers your own property, which includes your shares but does not let an attorney act as a director, since that office cannot be delegated. The Office of the Public Guardian's guide says you can appoint different attorneys for personal finances and business affairs by making two LPAs, and a business partner or fellow director is usually a better attorney for the business than a spouse. Check the company's articles and the bank mandate alongside it.

Is my enduring power of attorney still valid?

If it was made and signed before 1 October 2007, yes. Gov.uk confirms EPAs made before that date can still be used, and no new ones can be made. An EPA covers finances only and has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian when the donor starts to lose capacity, which is the reverse of an LPA. Because there was no welfare version, a person with an EPA should consider making a health and welfare LPA while they still can.

Sources & further reading

• Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 9
• Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 11
• Mental Capacity Act 2005, Schedule 1
• GOV.UK: register a lasting power of attorney
• GOV.UK: make a lasting power of attorney
• GOV.UK: LP12 make and register your lasting power of attorney
• Powers of Attorney Act 2023, section 1
• GOV.UK: enduring powers of attorney

This article is general information, not legal advice. The law changes and depends on your circumstances — always take advice on your specific situation before acting. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. AD Solicitors Limited is a recognised body regulated by the SRA (no. 8011228).