Lasting Power of Attorney Day

To mark Lasting Power of Attorney Day 2026, our Court of Protection team has revisited a number of misconceptions we have heard from clients and other professionals about Lasting Powers of Attorney.

“I don’t need a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health & Welfare – my next of kin will make decisions for me.”

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for Health & Welfare allows you to appoint someone you trust to make decisions about your care, medical treatment, and living arrangements if you lose the capacity to make these decisions yourself. Without an appointed Attorney, these decisions fall to social services and medical professionals, who must act in your best interests. While your next of kin would be consulted, they would not have the legal authority to make the final decision. As a result, decisions may be made that differ from your next of kin’s views or what they believe you would want.

For this reason, a Health & Welfare LPA is just as important as a Property & Financial Affairs LPA.

A Health & Welfare LPA also allows you to record your preferences regarding certain treatments and to specify whether your Attorney should seek advice from professionals when making decisions on your behalf.

“I don’t need a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs as everything is paid into a joint account which my next of kin can manage.”

Once you lose capacity, you can no longer give consent for your next of kin to manage your share of a joint account. At that point, your finances should be separated and managed independently. This can only be done by an appointed Attorney or a Court-appointed Deputy.

“Once I have passed away, my Attorney can deal with my estate.”

An Attorney’s authority ends when you pass away. After this, your Executor – or the personal representative named in your Will – takes over responsibility for administering your estate. Executors are appointed within your Will, and only they have legal authority to deal with your assets once you have died.

“I don’t need a Lasting Power of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs because I have a Will.”

A Will only takes effect after you have passed away.

An LPA allows an Attorney to manage your financial affairs while you are still alive, if you lose the capacity to do so yourself. The two documents serve completely different purposes, and having a Will does not replace the need for an LPA.

“I don’t need a Lasting Power of Attorney yet. I can set one up when I need it.”

This is only possible if you still have capacity at the time you choose to put one in place. If you lose capacity unexpectedly, you would no longer be able to create or sign an LPA. In that situation, your family or friends would need to apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship.

A Deputyship:

• is a significantly longer and more complex process.
• is more expensive than preparing an LPA.
• does not allow you to choose who is appointed.
• places more obligations on the Deputy, including reporting to the Office of the Public Guardian.
• gives the Deputy more limited powers, often requiring additional court applications.

Creating an LPA in advance avoids these difficulties.

“I don’t trust having an Attorney they can do whatever they want with my money.”

You should only appoint someone you completely trust to act in your best interests.

Attorneys are legally required to make all decisions in accordance with your best interests and must follow strict rules set out in the Mental Capacity Act. If an Attorney acts outside their authority or behaves improperly, the Office of the Public Guardian can investigate and apply to the Court of Protection to have them removed.

For more information about appointing Lasting Powers or Attorney, or for further advice and guidance, contact our Court of Protection Team.