How to set up Lasting Power of Attorney for a parent in the UK (and the questions people don't think to ask)

Lasting Power of Attorney is the single most useful piece of paperwork families can sort out before something happens to an older parent. The forms themselves are not that complicated. The conversations around them are. And the timing, the bit nobody warns you about, is the thing that catches most families out.

Here is what an LPA is, how to set one up in the UK, and the questions that do not come up until it is nearly too late.

What an LPA actually is

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets a parent (the "donor") name one or more people (the "attorneys") who can make decisions on their behalf if they later cannot. It is a UK-wide concept but the specifics vary slightly. This piece covers England and Wales. Scotland uses a similar but different system called Continuing and Welfare Powers of Attorney; Northern Ireland has its own framework, currently still called Enduring Powers of Attorney.

There are two types of LPA in England and Wales:

• Property and Financial Affairs. Covers paying bills, managing pensions, selling property, dealing with HMRC. Can be used while the donor still has capacity if they want help (for example, they are abroad), or after they lose capacity.
• Health and Welfare. Covers medical decisions, care arrangements, where the donor lives. Only kicks in if the donor loses capacity to make those decisions themselves.

You can set up one or both. Most families end up doing both, ideally at the same time so the conversation only happens once.

The bit that surprises everyone

An LPA only works if it is set up while the donor has mental capacity. Once they do not, it is too late. The alternative is a Deputyship application via the Court of Protection, which takes four to six months, costs upwards of £400, and involves ongoing supervision fees. It also does not let the donor choose who acts for them, the court does.

The most common moment families realise this is when something has just happened. Mum has had a stroke. Dad has had a sudden decline. They want to access bank accounts, talk to the GP, or move them somewhere safer, and the bank says "where is the Power of Attorney". And there is not one. And there cannot easily be one now.

So the timing is: while your parent is well enough to choose. Ideally years before it might be needed. The "we will do it later" instinct is the trap.

Cost and time

Each LPA costs £82 to register with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) as of 2025-26. Two LPAs (financial and health) is £164 total. The OPG fee is the only mandatory fee, you do not need a solicitor, although many families use one for the conversation and to certify the document.

Registration takes 12-16 weeks once submitted. Until the OPG registers it, the LPA cannot be used. So even after you have signed everything, there is a wait.

If your parent is on certain low-income benefits, the fee can be reduced by 50% or waived entirely. The form for that is the LPA120A and applying is free.

Picking attorneys: the things to think through

Number. Most families pick two or three. A single attorney is risky if that person becomes unable to act. Four or more becomes administrative.

How they act together. Three options:

• Jointly: every decision needs all attorneys to agree. Safe but slow, and if one becomes unable to act, the whole LPA fails.
• Jointly and severally: any attorney can act alone or all together. The most common and most flexible choice.
• Mixed: some decisions jointly, others severally. Workable but adds complexity.

Replacement attorneys. The unglamorous but important bit. If one of your named attorneys dies or becomes unable to act, who replaces them? Write this in. Otherwise the LPA may fail when you need it.

Siblings, all of them or just some. Hardest decision. Some families list all siblings to avoid hurt feelings. Others pick one or two who are nearby. There is no right answer. What matters is that the decision is made openly and explained. Siblings excluded as a surprise becomes a problem in a way that siblings excluded after a conversation rarely does.

How to bring it up with your parent

The way the conversation tends to fail is by starting with the LPA. "Mum, we need to talk about Power of Attorney" puts most parents on the back foot, it sounds like you are getting ready for them to deteriorate.

Better angles:

• Frame it as something you are doing for yourself. "Dad, we just did our wills and got Powers of Attorney sorted as part of the package. Worth thinking about?"
• Mention it as a piece of admin like any other. "While we are updating things, want to add LPA to the list?"
• Tie it to a piece of news. A friend's experience. An Age UK article. "I read about a family who did not have it, and what they ended up going through".

Most older parents, when the topic comes up, are pragmatic. They know it is sensible. They just do not want to be the one to bring it up.

The certificate provider

One small bit the forms do not explain well. Every LPA needs a "certificate provider", someone who confirms the donor understands what they are signing and is not being pressured. This can be either a professional (a solicitor, GP, social worker) or someone who has known the donor personally for two or more years, but is not a family member and not one of the attorneys.

The personal route is free and works well if there is a long-standing friend who can do it. The professional route costs £50-200 typically. For most families, picking a personal certificate provider is easier and cheaper. A neighbour the family has known for years, an old colleague, a long-standing GP.

After it is registered, where to keep it

Three places:

• The original, somewhere safe at the donor's house, or with a solicitor.
• A certified copy, with the primary attorney.
• Scanned and stored digitally, in a place the family can access if everything else is lost.

Banks generally want to see either the original or a certified copy before they will act on instructions. Solicitors can certify copies for a small fee.

When it kicks in

Different for each type:

• Property and Financial: kicks in as soon as it is registered, unless the donor specifies otherwise. The donor can use it themselves while they still want to (for example, to ask an attorney to do the banking while they are recovering from surgery).
• Health and Welfare: only kicks in if the donor loses capacity to make a specific decision. Capacity is decision-specific, not blanket, they may have capacity for some things and not others.

If it is already too late

If a parent has already lost capacity and no LPA was set up, the route is a Deputyship application to the Court of Protection. This is more involved, takes four to six months minimum, and the court rather than the family chooses who acts. The OPG also supervises Deputies and charges ongoing fees.

Not the catastrophe it sounds, but it is a year of paperwork and several hundred pounds. Worth doing if needed; better avoided by getting LPAs in place earlier.

Where Getwello fits

Getwello does not help you with the legal paperwork. What it does is sit alongside it: the daily check-in and shared visit calendar give you and your fellow attorneys (if you have any) a shared picture of how your parent is doing, day to day. Useful context if questions of capacity come up later, and useful structure for the family decisions you will be making together regardless.

For more on the conversations these LPA chats tend to grow out of, our piece on talking to a parent about getting more help covers the broader pattern. Our eight things every family should sort out before there is an emergency includes LPAs as item one for a reason.