What is an attorney and what are the options if you already have an LPA but wish to add someone new? Katie Fitzpatrick and Megan Heger from the Private Client team at Sydney Mitchell LLP explain.

What is a lasting power of attorney (LPA)?

A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document in England and Wales that allows someone to appoint people they trust to make decisions about their health, welfare, or finances if they are unable to make the decision themselves.

LPAs are not just for the elderly; any adult can experience an accident or sudden illness that causes a loss of mental capacity. As such, anyone over 18 with capacity should have LPAs to ensure that the right people have the authority to make decisions in their best interests.

An LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (‘OPG’) and provides control over who manages your affairs, preventing the need for a lengthy and expensive application to the Court of Protection if you lose capacity unexpectedly.

What is the role of an attorney?

The LPA allows the person who creates the document, known as ‘the donor’, to appoint one or more trusted persons - ‘the attorney(s)’ - to manage their affairs on their behalf if they require assistance or lack the capacity or ability to make a decision for themselves.

There are two types of LPA to which an attorney can be appointed:

Property and Financial Affairs LPA

An attorney appointed under a Property and Financial Affairs LPA will be able to assist the donor in making decisions if the donor has mental capacity to make them, or on their behalf if the donor has lost mental capacity, subject to any restrictions within the document. The attorney can deal with and make decisions in relation to the donor’s property and financial affairs to include dealing with bank accounts, savings, investments and pensions, and buying or selling property.

Health and Welfare LPA

An attorney appointed under a Health and Welfare LPA can only assist the donor in making decisions if the donor has lost mental capacity, specifically in relation to the donor’s health and welfare such as and including day to day decisions like what they wear, eat and medication they take. Additionally, depending on the terms of the LPA, they might also have authority to make decisions regarding life sustaining treatment.

Ultimately, any decision the attorney makes must be in the best interests of the donor and the attorney must follow the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in making any decisions.

Can you add an attorney to an LPA?

It is not possible to add an attorney to an existing LPA, whether registered or not, but the donor can remove an attorney(s), provided they have capacity to do so. This is done by the donor preparing a partial Deed of Revocation to revoke the appointment of a particular attorney. 

If the donor wishes to add or replace attorneys, they need to prepare a new LPA. 

Although a Deed of Revocation can be prepared at the same time as preparing new LPAs, if the donor wants to ensure that they have a valid LPA in place – either to safeguard their position should anything affect their mental capacity, or because they require assistance in the interim – they may wish to delay revoking the existing LPA until the new LPA has been registered. This approach avoids any gap during which the donor would be without a valid LPA, given the typical eight-to-10-week registration period.   

Seeking specialist advice on the preparation of a new LPA, the revocation of an original LPA and when the revocation should take place, is strongly recommended to ensure a valid LPA is in place. 

What is a Deed of Revocation?

Provided the donor has mental capacity, they can revoke their LPA at any time. To do so, they need to prepare a Deed of Revocation. This can either be a partial Deed of Revocation to revoke the appointment of an attorney, which allows the remaining attorneys or replacement attorneys to continue acting. Alternatively, they can prepare a Deed of Revocation that cancels the whole LPA.

For the Deed of Revocation to be effective, it must be signed by the donor in the presence of an independent witness.

If the LPA has already been registered, the Deed must be sent with the original LPA to the OPG.

If a partial Deed is prepared, the OPG will update the LPA to confirm the attorney who has had their power revoked can no longer act and will return the original LPA.

If a Deed of Revocation to revoke the whole LPA document is prepared, the OPG will note that the LPA has been revoked, meaning it can no longer be used. Whether the LPA has been registered or not, you will need to notify every attorney that their power under the LPA has been revoked, as well as sending them a copy of the Deed of Revocation.

How long does it take to process a new LPA?

The LPA cannot be used by the attorneys until it has been registered with the OPG.

Only once the LPA has been signed by all parties, can the LPA be submitted to the OPG for registration. If any parties have been named within the LPA as people to notify, the donor must notify them of the application before sending the LPA to the OPG.

The OPG then reviews the application and will write to the donor and attorneys advising them of the application at the same time giving them a period of four weeks to object to the registration. This is referred to as ‘the statutory waiting period’. Once this four-week period has passed and provided no objections are received, the OPG will register the LPA.

As of February 2026, the estimated timescale to process and register an LPA is eight to 10 weeks.

Delays may occur if the LPA has been signed incorrectly. The OPG can reject an application or ask that the errors are corrected within a set period so they can continue with the application. Common errors can include attorneys dating the document before the donor, or attorneys crossing out an error but not initialling the correction.

It is important for donors to seek professional advice when preparing an LPA. This ensures that the document has been prepared correctly, includes their appointed attorneys and replacement attorneys (if necessary), and that the document is signed and witnessed correctly by all parties. This will help avoid delays when the LPA is to be registered by the OPG and prevent issues using the LPA in future.

About the author

Sydney Mitchell’s Private Client Department is headed by partner Tracy Creed, who is named as a ‘Recommended lawyer’ by the Legal 500 2025. Megan Heger and Katie Fitzpatrick are both Paralegals within the Team. Katie and Megan both specialise in private client services, particularly the administration of estates, estate planning, preparing wills and lasting powers of attorney. 

See also

Place a deceased estates notice

How will the Assisted Dying Bill affect private client practitioners?

A guide to the Court of Protection

Find out more

Mental Capacity Act 2005 (Legislation)

Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney (GOV.UK)

Images

Adobe Stock

Megan Heger, Sydney Mitchell

Katie Fitzpatrick, Sydney Mitchell

Publication date

26 February 2026

Any opinion expressed in this article is that of the author and the author alone, and does not necessarily represent that of The Gazette.