Do I need two LPAs?
Written by SmartLPA · Reviewed 1 July 2026
There are two types of LPA, and neither covers the other's ground. Whether you need both depends on which decisions you'd want in trusted hands. For most people, honestly, that's both.
This guide content is currently in draft. We’re preparing it for review before launch. If you’re making an LPA now, always cross-reference with the OPG’s official guidance at gov.uk/power-of-attorney.
Two documents, two jobs
A Property & Financial Affairs LPA covers money and property: banking, bills, benefits, tax, and your home. A Health & Welfare LPA covers you as a person: daily care, medical treatment, where you live, and, only if you choose to grant it, life-sustaining treatment decisions. They're separate legal documents, separately registered.
What happens with only one
With only a financial LPA, your attorneys can pay the care-home invoice but have no legal say in whether you move there; health and care decisions fall to professionals, or to a court process, rather than the people you chose. With only a welfare LPA, the reverse: your family can speak for your care but can't access your accounts to fund it, and would need a Court of Protection deputyship for the financial half. Either gap tends to surface at exactly the moment your family is least equipped to deal with it.
Making both together
Both LPAs can name the same attorneys or different ones. Some donors pick the financially organised child for money and the geographically closest for welfare. Making both in one sitting is faster, because the people details are shared. SmartLPA prepares both together for £99 (against £59 each); the OPG's £92 registration fee applies per LPA, though one LPA120 remission application covers both when they're registered together.
Ready to put it in place?
Answer guided questions, pass every OPG structural check, and download your completed LPA, from £59.