What Is a Lasting Power of Attorney and Do I Need One?
A Lasting Power of Attorney, usually called an LPA, is about decisions during your lifetime.
A Lasting Power of Attorney, usually called an LPA, is about decisions during your lifetime.
A will deals principally with what happens after death. An LPA allows you, while you have the required mental capacity, to appoint one or more people to help make decisions or make decisions on your behalf in the circumstances allowed by the document and the law.
Government guidance formally calls the person making the LPA the “donor” and the people appointed “attorneys”. In MH360 guides we will usually describe them in plain English as the people appointed under the LPA, while explaining the formal terminology where necessary.
There are two different LPAs
In England and Wales there are two types.
A property and financial affairs LPA concerns matters such as money, bills, bank accounts and property.
A health and welfare LPA concerns decisions such as care, daily routine, medical treatment and where somebody lives.
You can make one type or both. They are separate legal documents.
Why might somebody consider an LPA?
People often associate LPAs only with dementia.
They can also become relevant after an accident, stroke, serious illness or another situation in which somebody cannot make a particular decision themselves.
The purpose is to choose in advance who can have legal authority in the circumstances covered by the LPA rather than assuming a spouse or adult child automatically has that authority.
Does my husband, wife or child automatically make decisions for me?
No general rule gives a spouse or adult child automatic authority to manage all of another adult’s finances or make all health and welfare decisions simply because of the relationship.
Different legal and professional frameworks apply.
An LPA is one way legal authority can be created in advance, but whether somebody should make one and how it should be drafted are matters on which qualified advice may be appropriate.
When can the two types be used?
A health and welfare LPA can only be used when the donor lacks mental capacity to make the relevant decision.
A property and financial affairs LPA can potentially be used while the donor still has capacity if the registered document allows this and the donor gives permission, as well as when capacity is lost.
An LPA must be registered before it can be used.
Making an LPA is not simply choosing a name
The document can involve decisions about who is appointed, whether more than one person acts jointly or jointly and severally, replacement appointees, preferences and legally binding instructions.
There is also a certificate-provider safeguard intended to confirm that the donor understands the LPA and is not being pressured to make it.
Those choices can have significant consequences. MH360 should explain the questions, not select the answers for the reader.
What if somebody has already lost capacity?
An LPA cannot simply be created for somebody else after they have lost the mental capacity required to make it.
Where there is no appropriate existing authority, an application to the Court of Protection may be necessary for certain decisions, including potentially the appointment of a deputy.
That process is different from making an LPA in advance and is covered later in Section 14.
A practical first step
If you are considering future planning, ask:
Who would currently deal with important decisions if I could not make them?
Do they actually have legal authority?
Would I want the same person involved with finances and health decisions?
Are there family circumstances that could create disagreement?
Take those questions to a professionally qualified legal adviser if you need advice about whether an LPA is appropriate or how it should be structured.
Last reviewed
5 September 2026
Important legal informationThis guide provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. It is not intended to recommend any particular legal arrangement, course of action or solution. Wills, inheritance, trusts, powers of attorney, mental capacity and related matters can have significant legal and financial consequences, and the appropriate approach will depend on individual circumstances. Professionally qualified legal advice should be sought before making, changing or acting upon important legal arrangements or decisions.