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A lasting power of attorney, or LPA, is a legal document that lets you choose someone to make decisions for you, or help you make them, if you ever can’t make them yourself. This is the England and Wales version. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different ways to do it.
The two kinds
There are two types, and you can make one or both.
Health and welfare covers things like your daily routine, medical care, moving into a care home and life-sustaining treatment. It can only be used when you can’t make your own decisions.
Property and financial affairs covers money and property: managing a bank account, paying bills, collecting a pension or benefits, selling your home. It can be used as soon as it’s registered, with your permission.
How it works
The people you choose are called attorneys, and you can name more than one. You need to be 18 or over and able to make your own decisions when you make it. An LPA has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. GOV.UK says that takes 8 to 10 weeks if there are no mistakes in the application, and there’s a fee, which GOV.UK keeps up to date. Everything you need is on GOV.UK, including a number for the Office of the Public Guardian if you’d like to talk it through. Scotland has its own version, and so does Northern Ireland.
An LPA ends automatically when the person who made it dies. From then on, the executors look after things, not the attorney. Here’s what an executor does.
Where a gatekeeper fits
An LPA gives someone legal power to make decisions for you, so it’s for the person you’d trust with your bank account and your care. The person you’d trust with your playlist might be someone else entirely.
A gatekeeper doesn’t carry legal power. On Twentyfive, it’s someone you choose to look after your wishes and your story on your Twentyfive Card: your songs, your people, the little things only you’d think of. They only see what you choose to share.
They can be the same person as one of your attorneys, or different people. There’s no limit on gatekeepers.
Quick answers
Is an LPA the same as next of kin?
No. Next of kin has no legal power. An attorney does once the LPA is registered, and for health and welfare only when you can’t make decisions yourself. Here’s next of kin, explained.
Does an LPA still work after someone dies?
No. It ends automatically, and the executors take over.
Can I have more than one attorney?
Yes, you can name more than one.
The person you’d trust with the big decisions and the person who knows your favourite song might be the same one. Or not. Your call.
