Power of attorney explained: the types, the differences, and which one you need

A quick map before we start. In England and Wales there are two lasting powers of attorney you can make today, plus an older enduring type that still exists. Scotland uses its own continuing and welfare versions. We will take each in turn.

The two types of lasting power of attorney

If you make a power of attorney today in England and Wales, it is a lasting power of attorney, or LPA. There are two, and they are separate documents doing separate jobs. Most people make both, but you can make either on its own.

Property and financial affairs

This covers money and property. Your attorney can pay bills, run your bank accounts, collect your pension, and sell your home if that is needed. You can let it start as soon as it is registered, with your permission, or only once you have lost capacity. It is the one families reach for most, and the one that saves the most stress when someone is in hospital or living with dementia.

Health and welfare

This covers care and medical decisions: where you live, your daily routine, the care you receive, and, if you choose, decisions about life-sustaining treatment. It can only be used once you have lost the capacity to make these decisions yourself. It is the one people put off, and often the one that matters most to the family when a crisis hits.

So the honest answer to “which type covers everything?” is that no single one does. The two together cover your money and your care. That is why most households make both.

The different kinds of power of attorney, compared

The word “power of attorney” gets used for several different things, which is where most of the confusion comes from. Here is how they line up.

Two things worth pinning down, because people search for them constantly. An ordinary power of attorney is not lasting; it ends the moment you lose capacity, which is usually when you need it, so it is no substitute for an LPA. And an enduring power of attorney is the old system: if you already hold a valid EPA it still works, but you cannot make a new one, and for finances today you make a property and financial affairs LPA instead.

Which one do you need

A simple way to decide. If you want someone able to manage your money if you cannot, you need a property and financial affairs LPA. If you also want someone able to make care and treatment decisions, add a health and welfare LPA. Most people who set these up make both, so that money and care are both covered by someone they trust. If your affairs are simple and you only worry about one of the two, you can make just that one.

Why a lasting power of attorney matters

The common assumption is that a husband, wife or adult child can simply step in if you become ill. They cannot. Without an LPA, your bank will freeze accounts in your sole name, and even a spouse has no automatic right to act.

The alternative, once capacity is already lost, is for someone to apply to the Court of Protection to become your deputy. That is slow, expensive, and it happens at the worst possible time, while your family is also coping with your illness. An LPA made in advance avoids all of it.

How to set up an LPA

You can do this yourself through the Office of the Public Guardian, or with a solicitor. The steps are the same either way.

1. Choose your attorneys. Pick people you trust completely. You can name more than one, and decide whether they act together or separately.
2. Choose replacement attorneys, in case your first choice cannot act when the time comes.
3. Decide on any instructions or preferences you want to set.
4. Choose your certificate provider, an independent person who confirms you understand what you are signing and are not under pressure.
5. Sign the forms in the right order. Order matters, and getting it wrong is the most common reason an LPA is rejected.
6. Register the LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian. It is not valid until it is registered.

Registration takes several weeks, so this is not something to leave until you need it. An unregistered LPA is no use in an emergency.

What an LPA costs

It costs £82 to register each LPA with the Office of the Public Guardian in England and Wales. Two LPAs, one for finances and one for health, is £164. If your income is under £12,000 a year you can apply for a 50% reduction, and if you are on certain benefits you may pay nothing at all.

You do not have to use a solicitor. Doing it yourself keeps the cost to the registration fee. A solicitor adds their fee but takes on the paperwork and reduces the risk of a rejection, which is worth considering if your affairs are complex.

The mistakes that cause the most trouble

A few errors come up again and again. Signing the sections in the wrong order. Naming attorneys who act “jointly” for everything, which means the LPA fails if one of them dies or steps down. Leaving the forms unregistered in a drawer. And the quietest one of all: making the LPA, then telling nobody where it is or what it says.

That last one matters more than people think. An LPA your attorney cannot find, or does not know exists, is the same as no LPA at all on the day it is needed.

Where FamilySafe fits

An LPA names the people who can act for you. It does not tell them where anything is. Your accounts, your policies, your passwords, your care wishes, the solicitor who holds the will: all of that still lives in your head or scattered across the house.

FamilySafe is where that information lives instead. One secure place for the accounts, documents, people and digital life your attorneys and family will need, shared on your terms, and ready the moment it matters. Your LPA says who can act. FamilySafe makes sure they can actually do it.

Power of attorney in Scotland and Northern Ireland

The LPA above applies to England and Wales. In Scotland the equivalent is a continuing power of attorney for finances and a welfare power of attorney, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). Northern Ireland still uses an enduring power of attorney, with reform expected. If you live outside England and Wales, check the rules for your nation before you start.