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Filling in the application forms

You can fill in Lasting Power of Attorney forms for yourself or if you are helping someone else make a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Lasting Power of Attorney forms can be completed without getting professional legal advice. However, if there are complicated details (such as finances) or specific instructions for the attorneys, you may want to get legal advice.

• Filling in a Lasting Power of Attorney form

Registering the Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney can't be registered and used immediately and the amount of time you might have to wait can change.

The current waiting time to register a Lasting Power of Attorney is ten weeks.

The Office of the Public Guardian must check the application to make sure there are no problems. There is also a six-week period when people have a chance to object to the Lasting Power of Attorney.

An attorney can only use a Lasting Power of Attorney once it has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian. A health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney can only be used once the donor (the person needing help) is unable to make their own decisions.

A court or a medical professional will help in deciding if someone has lost the mental capacity to make decisions.

• How to decide if a person lacks mental capacity

When a Lasting Power of Attorney can be registered

A donor can register their own Lasting Power of Attorney while they are able to make their own decisions. Alternatively, it can be registered by the attorney(s).

There is no requirement to register a Lasting Power of Attorney immediately but there are advantages in doing so. Immediate registration means any errors in the Lasting Power of Attorney can be identified at a time when they can be corrected.

Paying a fee to register a Lasting Power of Attorney

There is a fee to register a Lasting Power of Attorney. The fee can be reduced for someone on specific benefits or if they have a low income. You can get more information about how much a Lasting Power of Attorney costs using the link below.

• Lasting Power of Attorney - what it costs

The registration forms that need to be completed

There are two forms that need to completed to register a Lasting Power of Attorney. They must be completed by the donor or the attorney, depending on who is applying to register the Lasting Power of Attorney.

The two forms are:

• LPA001 - notice of intention to apply for registration of a Lasting Power of Attorney
• LPA002 - application to register a Lasting Power of Attorney

These forms can be downloaded using the links below. You can also download all the forms and guidance you need in a single ZIP file from the Ministry of Justice website.

You can use the online form to request Lasting Power of Attorney forms by following the link below.

Forms are also available in other formats, such as large print or Welsh versions. To request these or any other forms or guidance, contact the Office of the Public Guardian by calling 0300 456 0300 and select option two. The phone line is open Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, except on Wednesdays when it is open from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.

Form LPA001 is used to let certain people know that the Lasting Power of Attorney is being registered. These are the 'people to be told’ that are named on the Lasting Power of Attorney form.

They can object if they are worried about the Lasting Power of Attorney - for example, if they think the donor has been pressured to make it. They will have up to six weeks to do this.

Form LPA002 asks the Office of the Public Guardian to register the Lasting Power of Attorney.

You will also need to send the following items:

• the original Lasting Power of Attorney form
• the fee, or form LPA120 if applying for a fee remission or exemption

The documents should then be sent to the Office of the Public Guardian:

PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH

• Lasting Power of Attorney forms - Ministry of Justice website Opens new window

• Lasting Power of Attorney - request forms online Opens new window

• Download 'form LPA001 - Notice of intention to register a Lasting Power of Attorney' (PDF, 380K) Opens new window

• Download 'form LPA002 - Application to register a Lasting Power of Attorney' (PDF, 799K) Opens new window

• LPA120 - EPA and LPA fee, exemption and remssion guidance Opens new window

• Help with PDF files

Making sure no one can be forced into making a Lasting Power of Attorney

No one can be forced into signing a Lasting Power of Attorney against their will. A ‘certificate provider’ must also sign part B of the Lasting Power of Attorney forms. A certificate provider is someone who speaks privately with the donor to make sure they understand the powers they are giving their attorney(s).

A certificate provider can be someone the donor has known for two years or someone who has a professional skill or knowledge of the situation. For example, it could be a doctor, social worker or solicitor.

They will also check that there has been no fraud or pressure put on the donor to make the Lasting Power of Attorney.

• Objecting to the registration of a Lasting Power of Attorney

If there are problems registering a Lasting Power of Attorney

The Office of the Public Guardian will check the Lasting Power of Attorney form and the application form. If there are any problems with the form, the Office of the Public Guardian will contact whoever made the application (the donor or the attorney). If there are no objections to the Lasting Power of Attorney within five weeks, it will be registered after a minimum of six weeks.

Useful contacts

• Office of the Public Guardian

• Government, citizens and rights contacts