When a parent needs to move into a care home, the practical and emotional decisions come thick and fast. Choosing the right home, agreeing fees, managing finances, making medical decisions. But there is one question that determines who is legally allowed to make those decisions if your parent can no longer make them: does a Lasting Power of Attorney exist?
Without one, families can find themselves locked out of decisions about their own parent's care — unable to choose a home, unable to access bank accounts to pay fees, and unable to challenge care that falls short.
This guide explains what a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is, why it matters specifically for care home situations, how to set one up, and what happens if you leave it too late.
Important: This article provides general information about Lasting Power of Attorney in England and Wales. It is not legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, consult a solicitor or contact the Office of the Public Guardian (0300 456 0300).
What Is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows someone (the donor) to appoint one or more people (the attorneys) to make decisions on their behalf if they lose the mental capacity to make those decisions themselves.
There are two separate types of LPA, and they cover different areas of life:
Health and Welfare LPA
This covers decisions about:
- Where to live — including which care home
- Day-to-day care — personal care, diet, daily routine
- Medical treatment — consent to or refusal of treatment
- Moving between care settings — residential to nursing, or to a different home
- Life-sustaining treatment — but only if the donor specifically grants this authority
A Health and Welfare LPA can only be used when the person has lost capacity to make the specific decision in question. If your parent still has capacity, even if the LPA is registered, the attorney cannot override their wishes.
Property and Financial Affairs LPA
This covers decisions about:
- Bank accounts — accessing funds, paying bills
- Care home fees — paying invoices, negotiating costs
- Property — selling, renting or maintaining a home
- Benefits and pensions — claiming entitlements
- Investments and savings — managing assets
- Tax returns — dealing with HMRC
Unlike the Health and Welfare LPA, a Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used while the person still has capacity — with their permission. This is useful for practical help when a parent is physically frail but mentally capable.
Why You Need Both Types for Care Home Decisions
This is one of the most common mistakes families make: setting up only one type of LPA. For care home situations, you almost certainly need both.
Consider the practical reality:
- Choosing a care home requires a Health and Welfare LPA (it is a decision about where to live and what care to receive)
- Paying the care home fees requires a Property and Financial Affairs LPA (it involves accessing bank accounts and managing money)
- Selling a property to fund care requires a Property and Financial Affairs LPA
- Agreeing to a care plan requires a Health and Welfare LPA
- Managing top-up payments or negotiating fees requires a Property and Financial Affairs LPA
- Making a complaint about care quality can fall under either, depending on the nature of the complaint
Without both, you may be able to choose a care home but not pay for it — or be able to pay fees but have no legal authority to agree the care plan.
If your parent is funding their own care, the financial LPA is especially critical. Self-funders need someone who can manage accounts, access savings, sell property if necessary, and handle the question of whether the family home needs to be sold.
When to Set Up an LPA: The Critical Timing Issue
This is the single most important point in this entire article:
An LPA must be set up while the person still has mental capacity to understand what they are signing.
Once your parent has lost capacity — whether through advanced dementia, a stroke, a serious illness or any other cause — it is too late. The window has closed. No amount of urgency or good intentions can change this.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 requires that at the time of signing, the donor must be able to:
- Understand what an LPA is and what authority it gives
- Understand the consequences of making one
- Understand who they are appointing and why
- Retain that information long enough to make the decision
In practice, this means that the best time to set up an LPA is when it feels unnecessary. When your parent is healthy and the conversation feels premature, that is precisely when it should happen.
Many families think about LPA only when a crisis hits — a fall, a hospital admission, a sudden deterioration. By that point, capacity may already be in question, and the process becomes far more difficult.
If your parent has early-stage dementia, there may still be time, but a formal capacity assessment (usually by a GP) will likely be needed to confirm they can execute the document. Do not delay.
How to Set Up a Lasting Power of Attorney: Step by Step
The process is straightforward, but it does take time — particularly the registration stage. Here is what to expect:
Step 1: Choose the Attorney(s)
The donor (your parent) chooses who they want to act as their attorney. This can be:
- A single person (simplest, but no backup)
- Multiple people acting jointly (must all agree on every decision)
- Multiple people acting jointly and severally (can act together or independently)
Common choices include adult children, a spouse or partner, or a trusted friend. Consider:
- Is this person trustworthy and reliable?
- Are they willing to take on the responsibility?
- Do they understand the person's values and wishes?
- Will they be practically available when needed?
You can also appoint replacement attorneys who step in if the main attorney can no longer act.
You can complete the forms online using the free Gov.uk service at gov.uk/lasting-power-of-attorney. The online tool walks you through the process.
You will need to complete two separate forms — one for Health and Welfare, one for Property and Financial Affairs.
The forms include space for the donor to record specific preferences and instructions. For example, a parent might note that they prefer a care home close to a particular family member, or that they do not want to be placed in a home that does not accommodate their religious practices.
Step 3: Get a Certificate Provider
Every LPA requires a certificate provider — an independent person who confirms that the donor understands what they are signing and is not being pressured.
The certificate provider must be either:
- Someone who has known the donor personally for at least two years, or
- A professional — such as a GP, solicitor, or social worker
The certificate provider cannot be a family member or the attorney.
Step 4: Sign in the Correct Order
The forms must be signed in a specific order:
- The donor signs first
- The certificate provider signs next
- The attorneys sign last
Getting this order wrong can invalidate the LPA.
Step 5: Register with the Office of the Public Guardian
The completed LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used. Registration currently costs £82 per LPA — so £164 if you are registering both types.
Fee remissions and exemptions are available:
- If the donor receives a qualifying means-tested benefit (such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Income Support), the fee may be waived entirely
- If the donor's gross annual income is below £12,000, a 50% reduction may apply
You can register immediately after signing — there is no need to wait until capacity is lost. In fact, registering early is strongly recommended.
Step 6: Wait for Registration
The OPG typically takes 8 to 12 weeks to process a registration. During this time, the LPA cannot be used.
This waiting period is another reason to act early. If your parent is admitted to hospital and a care home move is urgent, an unregistered LPA is of no use.
Once registered, the OPG returns the stamped LPA documents. Keep them safe — you will need to show the originals (or certified copies) to banks, care homes, and local authorities.
What an Attorney Can and Cannot Do
An attorney under an LPA has significant legal authority, but it is not unlimited. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets clear boundaries.
An Attorney Must:
- Act in the person's best interests — not their own convenience or financial benefit
- Follow the Mental Capacity Act principles (see below)
- Consider the person's past and present wishes, feelings, beliefs and values
- Consult with family members and others involved in the person's care, where practical
- Make the least restrictive decision — the option that interferes least with the person's rights and freedoms
- Keep accounts of financial decisions (for the Property and Financial Affairs LPA)
An Attorney Must Not:
- Make decisions the donor still has capacity to make themselves
- Delegate their authority to someone else (except in limited circumstances)
- Mix the donor's finances with their own
- Make gifts beyond reasonable birthday or seasonal presents (without Court of Protection approval)
- Profit personally from the role
- Restrain or restrict the person's liberty (except in narrowly defined circumstances to prevent harm)
If you believe an attorney is not acting in someone's best interests, you can report concerns to the Office of the Public Guardian, which has the power to investigate and, if necessary, apply to the Court of Protection to remove the attorney.
LPA and Care Home Decisions: Practical Scenarios
Here is how LPA applies to the specific decisions families face when a parent moves into care:
Choosing a care home: The Health and Welfare attorney can research homes, visit, and make the final decision — but should consider the person's stated preferences, proximity to family, and the quality of care available. Understanding the signs that it is time for a care home is often the first step.
Agreeing fees and signing the contract: The Property and Financial Affairs attorney handles this. They sign the resident contract, agree fee levels, and manage ongoing payments.
Managing top-up payments: If the local authority is funding care but a family wants a more expensive home, a third-party top-up is required. The financial attorney manages this arrangement.
Challenging poor care or making complaints: Either attorney may be involved, depending on whether the issue is about care quality (Health and Welfare) or financial matters.
Moving to a different home: If the person lacks capacity, the Health and Welfare attorney can decide to move them to a different care home — for example, if care quality has deteriorated or a place becomes available closer to family.
When a parent resists care: If your parent still has capacity but is refusing to move into a care home, the Health and Welfare LPA does not give you the power to override their decision. You can only act under this LPA when they lack capacity for that specific decision.
What Happens If There Is No LPA
If your parent loses mental capacity and no LPA is in place, the legal situation becomes significantly more difficult, slower and more expensive.
The Court of Protection
Without an LPA, anyone who needs legal authority to make decisions for your parent must apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order.
This involves:
- An application fee of £371 (as of 2025/26)
- An annual supervision fee — £320 per year for the standard level
- A court hearing in many cases
- A waiting time of 4 to 6 months or longer — during which urgent decisions may be delayed or made by professionals without family input
- Ongoing reporting requirements to the OPG
- Potential requirement to take out a security bond (insurance against misuse of funds)
The total cost of a deputyship order, including professional fees if a solicitor is involved, can easily run to £2,000 to £5,000 — compared to £164 for both LPAs registered in advance.
More importantly, the delay matters. If your parent needs a care home place urgently — perhaps following a hospital discharge — and there is no LPA, decisions about where they go and how care is funded may be made by the hospital or local authority, with limited family input.
In the Meantime
While a deputyship application is pending, banks will not give you access to your parent's accounts. Care home fees cannot be paid. Property cannot be sold. Benefits cannot be claimed. Decisions about medical treatment and care are made by professionals in consultation with the family — but the family has no legal standing to insist on a particular course of action.
This is the situation thousands of families find themselves in every year. It is preventable.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: Key Principles
The Mental Capacity Act underpins everything to do with LPA in England and Wales. Its five core principles are worth understanding:
Presumption of capacity. Every adult is assumed to have capacity unless it is established otherwise. A diagnosis of dementia does not automatically mean someone lacks capacity.
Support to make decisions. Before concluding someone lacks capacity, all practicable steps must be taken to help them make the decision — using simple language, visual aids, choosing the right time of day.
Unwise decisions do not mean lack of capacity. A person has the right to make decisions others consider unwise. Choosing an expensive care home, or refusing care altogether, does not in itself indicate lack of capacity.
Best interests. Any decision made on behalf of someone who lacks capacity must be in their best interests — considering their wishes, feelings, beliefs and values.
Least restrictive option. The decision that least restricts the person's rights and freedoms should always be preferred.
These principles apply to attorneys, care homes, social workers, doctors, and anyone involved in decisions about a person who may lack capacity.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Setting up only one type of LPA. As discussed above, care home situations require both Health and Welfare and Property and Financial Affairs. Do not assume one will cover everything.
Not registering the LPA. An unregistered LPA cannot be used. Some families complete the forms but never register them — either to save the fee or because they think registration can wait. It cannot wait. Register immediately.
Not discussing wishes before capacity is lost. An LPA gives legal authority, but it does not tell the attorney what the person would have wanted. Have conversations about preferences — the type of home, the location, what matters most in daily life — and write them down. The LPA form has space for preferences and instructions.
Appointing the wrong person. Choose someone who is trustworthy, organised, and genuinely willing. Consider whether they live nearby enough to manage practical matters, and whether they can handle the emotional weight of difficult decisions. Appointing a family member solely to avoid conflict can backfire if that person is not suited to the role.
Assuming the hospital or council will sort it out. If there is no LPA and your parent loses capacity, professionals will make decisions — but they may not make the same decisions you would. The council may place your parent in whatever home has an available bed, rather than the home you would have chosen.
Waiting until a crisis. The most common regret families express is not setting up LPA sooner. A fall, a hospital admission, a rapid decline — by the time the urgency is real, the opportunity may have passed.
How to Get Started
If your parent has capacity and you have not yet discussed LPA, here is a practical starting point:
Start the conversation gently. Frame it as planning, not crisis. "I want to make sure we have everything in place so your wishes are respected, whatever happens."
Use the Gov.uk service. Visit gov.uk/lasting-power-of-attorney to use the free online tool. It guides you through both forms step by step.
Register both LPAs immediately. Do not wait. The £82 per LPA fee is a small price compared to the alternative.
Record preferences. Use the preferences section of the LPA form and have a wider conversation about what matters to your parent — the type of care, location, values, and what a good life looks like.
Store documents safely. Keep the originals secure but accessible. Make certified copies for banks and care homes. Consider using the OPG's online Use a lasting power of attorney service, which allows attorneys to access a digital version.
If you are already planning care for your parent, an independent assessment can help you understand which homes genuinely match their needs — before you need to use an LPA in a crisis.
Get a free comparison of 3 care homes in your area →
Further Help and Resources
- Office of the Public Guardian: 0300 456 0300 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) — gov.uk/opg
- Gov.uk LPA service: gov.uk/lasting-power-of-attorney (free online tool)
- Age UK: 0800 678 1602 — ageuk.org.uk (free advice on LPA and care planning)
- Citizens Advice: citizensadvice.org.uk (local and national guidance)
- Alzheimer's Society: 0333 150 3456 — alzheimers.org.uk (specific guidance on LPA and dementia)
Further Reading
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