Question 1

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

Accepted Answer

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you, the 'donor', choose trusted people ('attorneys') to make decisions on your behalf if you lose the ability to make them yourself. There are two types: one for property and financial affairs, one for health and welfare. An LPA only takes effect once it's registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. LPAs cover England & Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different systems.

Question 2

What's the difference between the two types of LPA?

Accepted Answer

A Property & Financial Affairs LPA (form LP1F) covers money and property: paying bills, managing bank accounts, selling your home. A Health & Welfare LPA (form LP1H) covers personal decisions: your daily care, medical treatment, where you live, and (if you choose to give your attorneys the power) life-sustaining treatment. They're separate documents with separate registrations, and your attorneys can be the same people for both or different for each.

Question 3

Do I need two LPAs?

Accepted Answer

The two types are independent: a Property & Financial Affairs LPA gives your attorneys no say over your care, and a Health & Welfare LPA gives none over your money. Many people make both at the same time so both sides of life are covered, which is why SmartLPA offers the two together for £99 rather than £59 each.

Question 4

What happens if I don't have an LPA?

Accepted Answer

If you lose capacity without an LPA, nobody, including your spouse or children, has automatic authority to manage your affairs. Your family would usually need to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy: a process that typically takes months, costs considerably more than making an LPA, and comes with ongoing supervision and annual fees. An LPA made in advance avoids all of that.

Question 5

How many attorneys can I choose?

Accepted Answer

The official LPA form has space for up to four attorneys, plus up to two replacement attorneys who step in if an original attorney can no longer act. Most people appoint one to three, often a partner and one or two adult children. If you appoint more than one, you'll also choose how they make decisions: together (jointly), or together and independently (jointly and severally).

Question 6

Who can be an attorney?

Accepted Answer

Anyone aged 18 or over who has mental capacity and agrees to act: a partner, adult children, other family, friends, or a professional such as a solicitor. For a Property & Financial Affairs LPA, an attorney must not be bankrupt or subject to a debt relief order. What matters most is trust: attorneys must always act in your best interests, and you can name replacement attorneys as back-up.

Question 7

Who can be my certificate provider?

Accepted Answer

Your certificate provider signs to confirm you understand the LPA and that nobody is pressuring you. They must either have known you personally for at least two years, or have relevant professional skills (a GP, solicitor or social worker, for example). They can't be one of your attorneys or replacements, a member of your or your attorneys' families, or someone connected to a care home or business involved in your care. Getting the certificate provider wrong is one of the common causes of OPG rejection.

Question 8

Can my attorneys be paid?

Accepted Answer

Family and friends acting as attorneys aren't paid for the role, but they can recover reasonable out-of-pocket expenses: postage, travel, or professional fees paid on your behalf. A professional attorney, such as a solicitor, can charge for their time where the LPA provides for it. If you want to pay a lay attorney, that needs an explicit provision in the document.

Question 9

Who can witness my LPA?

Accepted Answer

Signatures on an LPA must be witnessed by someone aged 18 or over who is independent of the signature being witnessed: you can't witness your attorneys' signatures, and your attorneys can't witness yours. Attorneys can witness each other's. Your certificate provider, or an independent adult, a friend, neighbour or colleague, is usually the simplest choice.

Question 10

Why does the OPG charge £92?

Accepted Answer

£92 is the government's statutory fee for registering each LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian. It applies to every LPA in England & Wales, however it was prepared, and is paid to the OPG, not to SmartLPA. You may pay less: if the donor's gross annual income is under £12,000, a 50% remission may apply (£46), and donors receiving certain means-tested benefits may be exempt entirely. Note that from 2 February 2026, receiving Universal Credit alone no longer qualifies; the under-£12,000 income test applies instead. Apply using form LPA120, submitted at the same time as your registration (retrospective applications aren't accepted); one form covers both LPAs registered together. The OPG decides eligibility based on your evidence.

Question 11

How long does registration take?

Accepted Answer

After you post your signed forms, OPG registration typically takes 8–10 weeks if there are no errors. That includes a statutory four-week waiting period that applies to every application. Delays of up to 20 weeks are possible for first-time registrations or where the OPG requests corrections, and timescales vary with OPG workload (check gov.uk for current estimates). An error adds months, because the application is returned for correction and re-joins the queue, which is why checking before you post matters so much.

Question 12

When can my attorneys start acting?

Accepted Answer

For a Property & Financial Affairs LPA, you choose: your attorneys may act as soon as it's registered (only ever with your consent while you still have capacity), or only once you've lost capacity. A Health & Welfare LPA is different: attorneys can only act when you lack the capacity to make the particular decision yourself.

Question 13

Can I change or cancel my LPA later?

Accepted Answer

While you have mental capacity, yes. You can end a registered LPA by sending a deed of revocation to the OPG, and you can make a new LPA at any time. A registered LPA can't be edited, though: changing attorneys or instructions means making a fresh document, with a new registration fee.

Question 14

How long does SmartLPA take?

Accepted Answer

Most people complete the guided questionnaire in 15–20 minutes per LPA. Every answer is checked against OPG structural rules as you go, so by the end you have a completed, checked document ready to print and sign. The slow part of an LPA is the OPG's registration queue, not the form-filling.

Question 15

When do I pay SmartLPA?

Accepted Answer

Only at the end. You can complete the entire questionnaire, pass every structural check and review your answers in plain English before any payment is taken. You pay when you're ready to generate your final documents: £59 for one LPA, or £99 for both types together.

Question 16

Is my information secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your LPA details are encrypted at rest with AES-256 on top of our database's own encryption, stored in the UK, and processed under UK GDPR. We delete data on a published retention schedule, and you can download or delete your information at any time from your account. We never sell or share your personal information.

Lasting Power of Attorney, explained simply

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

Who can be an attorney?

Who can witness my LPA?

Do I need two LPAs?

Can I make an LPA after losing capacity?

Who can be my certificate provider?

Common questions

The basics

Attorneys & the people involved

Signing & registering

Using SmartLPA

Ready to put it in place?