How a Lasting Power of Attorney works (PDF 70KB)
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Lasting power of attorney from £120
Appoint one or more people to make decisions on your behalf.
What is a lasting power of attorney (LPA)?
A lasting power of attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint one or more people to make decisions on your behalf during your lifetime. The people you appoint to manage your affairs are called the attorneys. A lasting power of attorney is a completely separate legal document to your will although many people put them in place at the same time as getting their will written, as part of planning for the future.
What does a lasting power of attorney cover?
There are two types of LPA.
A health and care LPA lets your attorney make decisions about your medical treatment and day-to-day care. This can include where you live, what you eat, what medical treatment you receive and who you see.
A financial decisions LPA lets your attorney handle (and make decisions about) your money and property. This can include paying your bills, selling your property, collecting your pension and collecting your benefits.
How much does a lasting power of attorney cost?
The price you pay will depend on how many LPAs you want to make and whether you choose our digital or fully advised service:
- A single LPA using our digital service costs £120 including VAT
- A single LPA using our fully advised service costs £399 including VAT
- Mirror LPAs for two people using our digital service cost £240 including VAT
- Mirror LPAs for two people using our fully advised service cost £599 including VAT
Find out more about our digital and fully advised LPA services.
How does an LPA work?
If you ever become unable to express your wishes, an LPA enables someone to step in and make decisions for you about your health and care or your finances. These important decisions will be made by someone you choose and trust, and you can choose the right type of LPA for your circumstances.
Without an LPA, if you need someone to step in and manage your finances in the future, their only option will be to apply for a deputyship order through the court. This can be a costly, complex and lengthy process. If you have an LPA, it can take effect as soon as it’s needed, meaning your chosen attorney can step in straight away.
Once your LPA is in place, you can have peace of mind that someone you trust can look after your affairs if you're ever unable to yourself, because of an illness or accident.
Your LPA can include instructions for your attorney, as well as your general preferences, to help them make the right choices for you. Your LPA should reflect your wishes so you know that the things that matter most would be taken care of.
When should an LPA be put in place?
You can only put an LPA in place whilst you are capable of understanding the nature and effect of the document. If you wait until it's needed, it will be too late for you to put an LPA in place.
Start your Lasting Power of Attorney online
Start your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) online and get everything in place in 4 easy steps
Who needs a lasting power of attorney?
An accident or illness can strike anyone at any age, often without warning. For this reason, an LPA in an important legal document for anyone to put in place.
If you lose capacity to make decisions and you don't have an LPA, no one has the legal authority to manage your finances for you or make decisions about your healthcare. If you wish to retain control over the decisions that are made on your behalf and give this authority to someone you trust, you should consider making an LPA.
Without an LPA, someone you might not have chosen could be appointed by the court to manage your affairs for you, under a deputyship order.
If you want peace of mind that a particular person will have the legal authority to look after your affairs, without them needing to go through the costly and complicated process of making a deputyship order, consider making an LPA.
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Why use a professional lasting power of attorney service?
An LPA is a legally binding document which is more complex that you might expect, and it's easy to get this wrong. A poorly drafted LPA could be found to be invalid or ineffective when it's needed, meaning that it's essentially worthless. This is why we would always recommend getting your LPA professionally drafted.
Benefits of making a lasting power of attorney with Co-op Legal Services
With our LPA service you'll receive all the necessary documents prepared for you, ready to sign. We offer fixed fee prices agreed upfront before any work on your LPA starts.
With Co-op Legal Services, there are two ways you can make your LPA with us. You can use our digital LPA service to start your LPA online, from £120, or you can request a callback for our fully advised LPA service, from £399.
For peace of mind, with our fully advised LPA service we can take full responsibility for the registration of your LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which will require payment of both our fixed fee and the OPG registration fee. (When using our digital LPA service, you'll need to register your LPA yourself with the Office of the Public Guardian.)
When you start your LPA online with our digital LPA service, we offer online guidance and a follow up call from a specialist to check your LPA and answer any questions. Some other online LPA providers simply provide a DIY document production service. The distinction is very important. LPAs are incredibly powerful documents and it’s very easy to make mistakes or misunderstand what they are, what they do and how they can be used.
What our fully advised LPA service includes:
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advising on the different types of LPAs available and their benefits
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advising on the choice of attorney and replacements, and how and when they can act
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advising on the appointment of an appropriate certificate provider
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advising on any preferences or instructions to limit what the attorneys can do
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preparing the LPA document
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sending the LPA with full instructions for signing by the donor, attorneys and certificate provider
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checking that the LPA has been signed correctly by all parties in the right order
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completing and submitting papers to register the LPA at the Office of the Public Guardian
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corresponding with the Office of the Public Guardian
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dealing with any challenges or requisitions raised by the Office of the Public Guardian
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returning the registered, bound LPA for safekeeping
The dangers of a DIY lasting power of attorney
Where issues often arise with LPAs is when people try to draft these documents themselves, without professional advice.
Do you know how to appoint replacement attorneys, for example, or how to appoint multiple attorneys to act either jointly or severally? If you want to leave instructions for your attorneys, do you know how to word these in a way that makes them legally sound and avoids any ambiguity?
Another risk of going it alone is that your appointed attorney may not be clear on what is and isn't permitted in their role. Remember that when your LPA comes into effect your Attorney is likely to have a lot on their plate. They may be caring for you or coming to terms with an accident or illness that has taken your mental capacity. The last thing you want is for them to be hauled before the Court of Protection because of an accidental breach of duty.
Investigations by the Office of the Public Guardian
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is the government organisation responsible for overseeing lasting power of attorney and deputyship arrangements in England and Wales. The priority of the OPG is to protect people who are not able to make (or express) their own decisions.
If the OPG believes that an attorney or a deputy is acting in a way that is not in the best interests of the individual, then they will launch an investigation.
Check which will is right for you
Different types of will offer different levels of protection and flexibility. Our interactive tool helps you find the option that best suits your needs.
Co-op Legal Services has over 800 staff working in different businesses with offices in Manchester, Bristol, Stratford-upon-Avon, Sheffield and London.
