How Do I Make and Register a Power of Attorney in England or Wales?

Who this guide is for

People in England or Wales who want to make or register a lasting power of attorney (LPA), attorneys, and people worried about someone who can no longer make their own decisions.

What this guide does not cover

• Scotland or Northern Ireland: see the Scotland guide or the Northern Ireland guide.
• Wills, inheritance and what happens when someone dies: this guide does not cover them. Ask a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
• Advance decisions to refuse treatment and DNACPR decisions: this guide does not cover them. Ask the GP or a solicitor.
• How to fill in a deputy application, Court of Protection fees and how deputies are supervised: this guide names the route only. Ask the Office of the Public Guardian or a solicitor.
• An ordinary power of attorney for a short time, for example while you are abroad: this guide does not cover it. Ask a solicitor.
• Care needs assessments and paying for care: see our social care guide.

What the rules depend on

1. Where are the person and their property? England or Wales: this guide. An LPA is legally binding only in England and Wales.
2. Can the person still make their own decisions? Yes: they can make an LPA now. No: it is too late to make one, and a deputy may be needed (see below).
3. Is there already a registered LPA, or an enduring power of attorney made before 1 October 2007? Yes: the attorney acts under it, within its limits. No: see "If there is no power of attorney".
4. Which decisions? Money and property: a property and financial affairs LPA. Health, care and where the person lives: a health and welfare LPA.

The two types of LPA

• Health and welfare LPA: for decisions such as your daily routine (washing, dressing, eating), medical care, moving into a care home and life-sustaining treatment. It can only be used when you are unable to make your own decisions.
• Property and financial affairs LPA: for decisions such as managing a bank or building society account, paying bills, collecting benefits or a pension and selling your home. It can be used as soon as it is registered, with your permission.

A health and welfare attorney can only give or refuse consent to life-sustaining treatment if the LPA expressly says so.

Who can make an LPA and who can be an attorney

• The person making the LPA (the donor) must be 18 or over and have mental capacity when they make it. They do not need to live in the UK or be a British citizen.
• An attorney must be 18 or over and have mental capacity. It can be a relative, a friend, a husband, wife or partner, or a professional such as a solicitor.
• You cannot choose someone who is bankrupt or subject to a Debt Relief Order as an attorney for a property and financial affairs LPA.
• With more than one attorney, you decide whether they act jointly (all must agree), jointly and severally (each can decide alone or with the others), or jointly for some decisions and jointly and severally for others.
• You can name replacement attorneys to take over if an attorney can no longer act.

Making the LPA

• You can use the GOV.UK online service or the paper forms. With the online service you still print the forms and sign them.
• The forms are signed by you, your attorneys, witnesses and a certificate provider. The certificate provider confirms you are making the LPA by choice and understand what you are doing.
• Everyone signs the same original document. Copies and digital signatures cannot be used.
• Witnesses and certificate providers must be 18 or over. An attorney cannot witness your signature or be your certificate provider. You cannot be a witness yourself.

Registering the LPA

• An attorney cannot make decisions for you until the LPA is registered with the OPG.
• You can apply to register it yourself while you can make your own decisions. Your attorney can also apply to register it; you will be told and can object.
• Before registering, send form LP3 to each "person to notify" named in the LPA. They have 3 weeks to raise concerns with the OPG.
• It takes 8 to 10 weeks to register an LPA if there are no mistakes in the application.
• If there is a mistake, depending on the type of mistake, the OPG may let you correct it and apply again within 3 months for £46.

Money figures

• Applying to register an LPA costs £92. Registering both types costs £184 in total. This fee applies to applications received by the OPG from 17 November 2025.
• If the donor's income before tax is less than £12,000 a year, they may pay half (a 50% remission).
• If the donor gets certain means-tested benefits, they may pay nothing (an exemption). From 2 February 2026 a donor on Universal Credit is assessed for a remission, not an exemption.
• Apply for a reduction or exemption on form LPA120, which lists the benefits and the proof needed.

Enduring powers of attorney (made before October 2007)

• Only an enduring power of attorney (EPA) made and signed before 1 October 2007 can still be used. After that date people had to make an LPA instead.
• An EPA covers the donor's property and money. The attorney can use it at any time if it is legal and the donor gives permission.
• When an attorney has reason to believe the donor is, or is becoming, mentally incapable, the attorney must apply to the OPG to register the EPA as soon as practicable.

If there is no power of attorney

• If someone lacks mental capacity and has no LPA or EPA, you can apply to the Court of Protection to become their deputy. You must be 18 or over.
• There are 2 types of deputy: a property and financial affairs deputy and a personal welfare deputy.
• For a single important decision, you can apply to the Court of Protection for a one-off order instead.
• If you only need to look after someone's benefits, you do not need to be a deputy: apply to become their appointee.
• If the person already has an LPA or EPA, they do not usually need a deputy. Check before you apply.

Worried about an attorney

• The OPG looks into concerns about attorneys under a registered LPA or EPA and about deputies, for example money being misused or decisions not in the person's best interests.
• Anyone can report a concern, and you do not need proof. The OPG will not tell the attorney who made the report.
• The OPG can only investigate when the person having decisions made for them cannot deal with the issue themselves.
• Report online, by email to opg.safeguardingunit@publicguardian.gov.uk or by phone. Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger, and contact the police if you think a crime has been committed. Local adult social services deal with care or safeguarding concerns.

Deadlines

• People to notify: 3 weeks to raise a concern with the OPG.
• Registration by the OPG: about 8 to 10 weeks when the application has no mistakes.
• A corrected application after a mistake: within 3 months.

Traps

• An unregistered LPA cannot be used, even if everyone has signed it.
• A health and welfare LPA cannot be used while you can still make the decision yourself.
• Being next of kin, a husband, wife or partner does not by itself let you run someone's bank account or make decisions for them: that needs an LPA, an EPA, a deputyship or, for benefits only, an appointeeship.
• An LPA made in England and Wales is legally binding only there. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.