“Power of Attorney” gets used as a catch-all term, but in England and Wales there are actually several distinct types, and using the wrong one, or none at all, can leave your family without the legal authority to help you when it matters most.
Ordinary Power of Attorney
An ordinary (or “general”) Power of Attorney gives someone the authority to manage your financial affairs, but only while you still have mental capacity. It’s typically used for temporary, specific situations: for example, if you’re going abroad for an extended period and need someone to manage your finances while you’re away, or if you’re recovering from surgery and want short-term help with your affairs.
Crucially, an ordinary Power of Attorney automatically becomes invalid the moment you lose mental capacity, which is exactly when many families need legal authority most.
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
A Lasting Power of Attorney, introduced under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, is designed to remain valid even if you later lose mental capacity, for example, due to a stroke, dementia, or serious accident or illness. It must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used, and there are two separate types, each covering a different area of your life:
- Property and Financial Affairs LPA – covers decisions about bank accounts, bills, property, investments, and managing your income. This one can be used either while you still have capacity, with your permission as a form of support, or only after you’ve lost it, depending on how you set it up when you create it.
- Health and Welfare LPA – covers decisions about medical treatment, daily care, and where you live. Unlike the financial version, this one can only ever be used once you’ve lost the capacity to make those decisions yourself. It has no earlier application and cannot be used if you can make a decision for yourself.
Most people benefit from setting up both, since they cover genuinely different areas of your life, and it’s entirely possible to appoint different attorneys for each if that suits your circumstances better.
A worked example: why timing matters
Consider a couple in their late 60s living near Exeter. The husband has a Property and Financial Affairs LPA in place naming his wife as attorney, set up two years before he had a stroke that left him without capacity to manage his own finances. Because the LPA was already registered, his wife was able to continue paying bills, managing their joint accounts, and handling his pension without interruption.
Compare that to a similar family without an LPA in place: after a sudden loss of capacity, the family had to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, a process that typically takes several months, involves ongoing court supervision and annual reporting, and costs considerably more than setting up an LPA in advance would have.
Why an LPA matters more than most people realise
Without a registered LPA, if you lose capacity, your family cannot simply step in to manage your affairs. Even a spouse doesn’t have automatic authority, despite what many people assume. Instead, they’d need to apply to the Court of Protection for a “deputyship” order: a process that is significantly slower, considerably more expensive, and gives them less flexibility and more ongoing oversight and regular costs than an LPA would have provided.
What does it cost and how long does it take?
We offer a fixed-fee LPA service – view our LPA pricing here.
As of 2026, registering each LPA with the OPG costs £92. People with a gross annual income under £12,000 may qualify for a 50% reduction, and those on certain qualifying benefits may be exempt entirely.
Processing times have varied considerably in recent years, anywhere from around 8 to 20 weeks depending on current demand and whether the application is error-free. It’s sensible to register well before you think you’ll actually need it.
An LPA can only be set up while you still have mental capacity; once that’s lost, an LPA is no longer an option, and a Court of Protection application becomes the only route.
Choosing your attorney
Whoever you appoint should be someone you trust completely, as they’ll potentially be making significant decisions about your finances, health, or care. You can appoint more than one attorney and decide whether they must act jointly, agreeing on every decision together, or “jointly and severally”, meaning they are able to act independently, either together or alone.
It’s also worth naming a replacement attorney in case your first choice becomes unable or unwilling to act, whether through their own ill health, death, or simply a change in circumstances.
A third type worth knowing about: Enduring Power of Attorney
If you or a family member set up a Power of Attorney before October 2007, you may have an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) rather than an LPA. EPAs were the predecessor to the modern LPA system and are still valid if correctly made and registered, though no new ones can be created today.
An EPA only covers property and financial affairs, there’s no health and welfare equivalent, and it still needs to be registered with the OPG once the donor starts to lose capacity. If you’re not sure whether an older document you’re holding is an EPA or an LPA, it’s worth having it checked, since the rules that apply to each are different.
Common myths about Powers of Attorney
A few misunderstandings come up regularly:
- “My spouse can automatically make decisions for me if I lose capacity.” Not true. Even a spouse has no automatic legal authority over your finances or care decisions without an LPA (or EPA) in place. Banks in particular will not simply take a spouse’s word for it.
- “An LPA gives someone control over me immediately.” Not necessarily. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be set up so it’s only usable once you’ve lost capacity, if you’d prefer that safeguard, rather than being usable the moment it’s registered.
- “Setting up an LPA means giving up control now.” You remain in charge of your own decisions for as long as you have capacity. An LPA is a safety net for a future situation, not an immediate transfer of control.
- “I’m too young to need one.” Loss of capacity isn’t only an issue of old age. Sudden illness, accident, or injury can affect anyone, which is exactly why setting an LPA up well in advance, while you’re healthy, is the safest approach.
What happens if you lose capacity with no LPA and no EPA in place?
This is the situation an LPA is specifically designed to prevent. Your family would need to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order, a longer, more expensive, and more restrictive process than an LPA, involving an application fee, often an annual supervision fee thereafter, and ongoing annual reporting requirements to the OPG.
Deputies also have less flexibility than attorneys, since the court sets out specifically what they can and can’t do, and significant decisions may require going back to the court for separate approval.
The bottom line
An ordinary Power of Attorney is useful for short-term, specific situations where you retain capacity throughout. A Lasting Power of Attorney is the one that actually protects you and your family for the long term, precisely because it’s designed to keep working when you need it most.
If you don’t have one in place, it’s worth addressing sooner rather than later. Capacity can be lost suddenly, through illness or accident, and without warning.
Frequently asked questions
Can I set up an LPA for myself, or does someone else need to arrange it?
You can put an LPA in place while you have capacity. An LPA cannot be set up on someone else’s behalf once they’ve lost capacity. At that point, the only route is a Court of Protection deputyship application.
What happens if I never register my LPA after signing it?
An unregistered LPA has no legal effect at all and cannot be used by your attorney, even in an emergency. Registration is a separate, necessary step after signing to ensure it is legally valid and usable.
Can I cancel or change an LPA once it’s registered?
Yes, as long as you still have the mental capacity to do so, you can revoke an LPA or make a new one at any time.
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