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Original poster

Lasting Power of Attorney - why so expensive and why isn't everyone nudged to do one?

151 replies

housemonkey · 03/12/2025 10:47

My parents have been filling in their LPAs, which are inherently useful and mean that it's clearly set out what they want done in case of serious illness. In their case, they don't want anything at all.
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power
But why on earth is it such a ball ache and why on earth does it cost £92??
If my grandmother had filled one of these out, it would have saved the NHS literally hundreds of thousands of pounds for an utterly joyless extra month in her nineties that she didn't want.
But these forms are complicated (they're on it and organised, but have struggled) and not everyone has £92 lying around! Why aren't they readily available (and you could just be referred by eg your GP if it was something you were interested in?). It's crazy! I totally understand that not everyone would want one (and that's obviously fine), but if you are, it should be straightforward and free.

Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney

How to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA): starting an application online, choosing an attorney, certifying a copy, changing an LPA.

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/make-lasting-power

OP posts:
Allthings · 04/12/2025 15:15

Being next of kin has no legal standing and you are not legally entitled to make health/care or finance and property decisions on behalf of your relative, which also includes a spouse and prevents the court of protection from stepping in. If the court of protection step in, it’s protracted and expensive and they will make the decisions on behalf of your relative.

A LPA makes sure your wishes are documented and followed, avoids family disputes and prevents court intervention.

Third party access only allows limited access such as paying bills, withdrawing cash, or a debit card for shopping. LPA gives you a much broader authority.

We had a friend whose wife became mentally incapacitated virtually overnight and the court of protection stepped in. He was extremely limited in the decisions he could make for his wife despite being married for 50 years. The process was protracted and costly and I am not sure he ever got over loosing control of being able to make decisions on her behalf.

As part of an LPA you are supposed to discuss your needs and wants with your attorney(s) which should allow them to be able to make decisions in an emergency situation.

In some ways it’s not unlike people not making wills as they think the right things will happen after they die, but having a will makes life so much easier with the estate being quicker to settle. And assuming it has been drawn up correctly, there is no dispute about who the beneficiaries are and what you want them to have.

SalmonOnFinnCrisp · 04/12/2025 15:18

I saw Martin Lewis talk about 100 easy wins the labour gov could have done that wouldnt cost much to change / fix.

This was one of the things that sprung to mind.

Yanbu.

Scarlettpixie · 04/12/2025 15:32

@Allthings

Why did the court of protection become involved. I thought they only would if there was a dispute and possibly to appoint a deputy.

jasflowers · 04/12/2025 15:43

StewkeyBlue · 03/12/2025 10:50

They are a really important legal document and have to be set out and authorised and lodged as such. That costs.

Can you imagine the abuse that could happen?

More than a Will? which can be done for £10 or less.

When my mum lost capacity, due to a severe stroke, the Hospital, took instruction from me, as i was NOK and Executor... i know, no legal basis for that and tbh i didn't really argue with them, she was dying and the staff were fantastic.
This was only a few years ago.

Court of protection??? don't make me laugh, a relative set out to cause trouble, this distressed my Mum, the Court of Protection took so long - weeks, she was dead before they got involved.

Allthings · 04/12/2025 15:50

@Scarlettpixie because she was incapable of making decisions for herself due to lack of mental capacity and had no LPAs in place. Applying for deputyship is protracted and costly and she died before that came through. Even then the court can still decide on what decisions they will allow a deputy to make and a deputy will be supervised by the court. It’s not really where you want to go for the sake of an LPA being drawn up and registered beforehand.

Scarlettpixie · 04/12/2025 15:57

Allthings · 04/12/2025 15:50

@Scarlettpixie because she was incapable of making decisions for herself due to lack of mental capacity and had no LPAs in place. Applying for deputyship is protracted and costly and she died before that came through. Even then the court can still decide on what decisions they will allow a deputy to make and a deputy will be supervised by the court. It’s not really where you want to go for the sake of an LPA being drawn up and registered beforehand.

Ah ok. I guess it can be more complex from a financial perspective if there is property or you have no access to their money. In our case mum didn't have a property and I could access her accounts but in any event she was fully funded so no fees to pay anyway. I am not sure what baring any of this has on hospital or other health and care decisions though. Surely they are down to the Drs and NOK?

Allthings · 04/12/2025 16:56

@Scarlettpixie NOK have no legal standing, there can be family disputes over agreeing things, someone with no family. If you want to be certain that whoever you nominate can legally make decisions if you become incapacitated you need LPAs.

There are so many different circumstances and in some cases things can get complex. It’s a bit like not having a will, things may go to the ‘right’ people due to dying intestate, but if you want certainty and have special requests and want to avoid a protracted process, you need a will. At least without a will, you are not directly affected, but you are affected without a LPA as you are alive.

My FIL didn’t have an LPA or its forebearer and whilst my DH as an only child was listened to, he only had a limited say in his care and where he went (he was moved multiple times without discussion or input from my DH).

NameChanger20252 · 04/12/2025 17:06

£92 is a bargain! My mum just paid over £600 for hers (both health and finance) Looks like she was ripped off.

saraclara · 04/12/2025 17:08

StewkeyBlue · 03/12/2025 15:21

Having LPA doesn’t give you the power to bump people off / let them die if they are well enough to last years in a care home, as you describe.

Exactly. I don't know why you're so fixated on how am LPA can save the NHS money, @housemonkey . Unlike the finances LPA, the health one can only be used when the person can no longer make their own decision. Both my mother and MIL were able to make the decisions and the different reasons that they ended up on care homes for 15/10 years respectively. My mum had an LPA and it made no difference whatsoever.
The only thing we used it for was when we needed to change her GP and she was unable to fill in the forms.

As a pp pointed out, it's an advance directive that can potentially make a difference.

SheilaFentiman · 04/12/2025 17:12

NameChanger20252 · 04/12/2025 17:06

£92 is a bargain! My mum just paid over £600 for hers (both health and finance) Looks like she was ripped off.

£92 is the government filing fee. If you take advice, it will cost more.

Lastknownaddress · 04/12/2025 19:21

Scarlettpixie · 04/12/2025 14:26

OP I don't understand how if everyone had an LPA in place, it would save a vast amount for the NHS and social care. Can you explain. They usually don't go much beyond allowing the next of kin to make decisions on that person's behalf if they loose capacity which is the norm anyway. An advance directive isn't usually much more than a DNR is it? Although maybe it can include treatment too - such as antibiotics being given to a person in hospital via IV which may only prolong their suffering and may not be in their best interests.

My late mum didn't have an LPA. She went into hospital and was moved to a care home when she required nursing care and sometimes 1:1 care over a 2 year period. She lacked capacity and was on a DOLS for a time due to her confusion and demanding to go home. She had progressive vascular dementia and it is the most cruel and debilitating disease.

As next of kin I was consulted every step of the way. At some point after she deteriorated in the care home, I agreed to a DNR, and when it came to her last 24 hours I was asked if I wanted them to send her to hospital or keep her at home. I chose her staying at home and stayed with her until she died peacefully (she had pneumonia). There would have been no point them trying to rally her with antibiotics for a few days or weeks removing a very confused lady from her usual surroundings. Her quality of life was abysmal by that point. I agreed because I thought it was what she would have wanted but also on her GPs advice - who said that is what she would want/choose if it were her mum.

Not having a LPA made no difference to the care she received or the cost to the NHS - which was very high as she was fully funded. She was never at deaths door until the very last day or two and never hospitalised during the 2 years she was in the care home. How would an LPA have helped here?

I already had third party access to her bank accounts which she granted mainly due to her becoming less mobile and unable to go to the bank. She could not cope with online banking as she never had a computer or did telephone banking (she struggled with new things long before she was diagnosed with dementia and was also quite deaf). She trusted me to look after her affairs.

Surely in most cases, the next of kin just speaks for their relative when they are unable to do so? A LPA would be more relevant if you had multiple people involved (or none) and you wanted to nominate someone as your representative. I was an only child and my mum was a widow so ultimately it was up to me and her doctors to decide what was in her best interests. I think most people would want to be treated/resuscitated anyway until their situation becomes truly intolerable.

My mum was asked if she wanted to be on a DNR some time earlier (while she still had capacity) and at that time she said no. While her enjoyment of life was hindered by her having a stroke/mobility issues and her deafness, she still enjoyed visits with friends and family and being a grandma. Progressive vascular dementia strips all that away.

I am not even sure in an emergency situation, the information in the LPA or AD/DNR would be easy to access. A different matter if you are in hospital already or in a care home and they have the records.

I imagine this is most people's experience and why lots of people don't bother with an LPR. They don't think they need one. Your post made me wonder if I should get one but my son is an only child and I am happy for him to make any decisions on my behalf when the time comes.

I don't know how recently you were in the position of acting on your Mum's behalf but to be clear, NoK is not a legal entity in terms of decision making and care. The clinicians will try and consult with family where they can but they are not obliged to do so, or to take their views into account - particularly where there are serious differences in opinion. As an "only" too, and in my case where care was required in an emergency with lots of different views on what was right - an LPA would have cut through the noise and reduced a huge amount of distress for everyone involved. @Scarlettpixie if you really want to leave your son in the best place possible when the most difficult decisions need to be made, you will consider an LPA. No one can predict how later life or end of life will play out and you might find all choices are taken from you and your son.

Scarlettpixie · 04/12/2025 19:27

@Lastknownaddress thank you. I guess in our case it was always obvious what the best course of action was so there were no arguments. It is also about 10 years since mum died.

I will give this some thought. I have a will and am recently divorced so that needs updating. I am keen to get my affairs in order and I have no issue paying the £92 for an LPA. I will also look into ADs which I know little about. The LPA is a bargain after paying for both the divorce and will in the past year!

Chonkers · 04/12/2025 19:30

We did my parents when they were 75 to 70 and we were turning 50. We did both health and welfare and finance. I think all couples should do it for each other before they age if possible. But yes, it does cost.

No GPs were involved at all.

Chonkers · 04/12/2025 19:34

This is a while the strange thread. The OP seems to think a health and welfare power-of-attorney is just about allowing your elderly relatives to die rather than go to a care home. It is about much more than that and can be about different aspects of healthcare.

The financial power-of-attorney is useful because even for my husband and I who are relatively young, it means if one of us is out of the country for example , the other one can take care of the other one’s finances with consent, even if he has capacity. It is useful to have in place, whatever the age.

Lastknownaddress · 04/12/2025 19:35

Allthings · 04/12/2025 16:56

@Scarlettpixie NOK have no legal standing, there can be family disputes over agreeing things, someone with no family. If you want to be certain that whoever you nominate can legally make decisions if you become incapacitated you need LPAs.

There are so many different circumstances and in some cases things can get complex. It’s a bit like not having a will, things may go to the ‘right’ people due to dying intestate, but if you want certainty and have special requests and want to avoid a protracted process, you need a will. At least without a will, you are not directly affected, but you are affected without a LPA as you are alive.

My FIL didn’t have an LPA or its forebearer and whilst my DH as an only child was listened to, he only had a limited say in his care and where he went (he was moved multiple times without discussion or input from my DH).

@Scarlettpixie

@Allthings describes this much better than me, largely because I just coming out of the other side of a protracted and awful "no LPA emergency, as an only child" situation and I am exhausted and broken by it and can't face typing it all out.

But essentially I had no legal standing. Had to fight tooth and nail to get the right care in the right place for my M, while she was left in huge amounts of distress. Deputyship over finances has taken 9 months and a huge amount of money to find up front (we have now been reimbursed out of M's estate) and even then it is not sorted. Deputyship reporting requirements are even stricter than LPA (something not discussed yet on this thread) and you have to jump through all sorts of additional hoops with the bank, DWP, Pensions, etc to get access to finances and property affairs that I simply wouldn't have had to do if M had LPAs in place. To give you a sense of what this actually involves - it has been like a part time job for the past 6 months.

It hasn't saved M money, in fact cost us and her thousands. Meant she got no say in her care for 3 months. And has left her paying out on property, mobile phone contract, internet fees, TV etc etc until I was given permission by the Court to shut it all down.

Care costs and NHS costs aside (which was the original premise of this thread and is incorrect - as you are right it saves no money on that front), I honestly can't see why people wouldn't stump up for an LPA. If nothing else to do this for the people they love so they don't have to deal with extra stress and distress at crisis point.

Lastknownaddress · 04/12/2025 19:36

@Scarlettpixie we cross posted but hopefully my additional explanation helps you think it through.

Fgfgfg · 04/12/2025 19:53

I think there's some confusion over the health and welfare LPA and an Advance Directive. LPA gives the relatives power to make decisions such as admission to care homes, medical treatment etc but OP keeps mentioning people lingering in hospitals which sounds as though completing the Advance Directive would have been more appropriate. This is entirely separate from LPA and is an Advance DNR. MIL completed an Advance Directive so when she was near the end they would not attempt to sustain life. I read OP's comments and assumed there was some confusion between the two.

Wonderknicks · 04/12/2025 20:06

Fgfgfg · 04/12/2025 19:53

I think there's some confusion over the health and welfare LPA and an Advance Directive. LPA gives the relatives power to make decisions such as admission to care homes, medical treatment etc but OP keeps mentioning people lingering in hospitals which sounds as though completing the Advance Directive would have been more appropriate. This is entirely separate from LPA and is an Advance DNR. MIL completed an Advance Directive so when she was near the end they would not attempt to sustain life. I read OP's comments and assumed there was some confusion between the two.

I agree, I suspect this is why there were GO visits.

Lifestooshort71 · 04/12/2025 20:12

I recently completed my LPA and posted it off with the requisite check - according to my bank, the cheque was cleared 2 weeks later but, according to the LPA website, my document had yet to be received let alone opened. Odd. Anyway, 2 weeks later it was flagged as 'Received' with a note that it could now take 16 weeks for the process to be completed. 16 weeks!!

Ohmygodthepain · 04/12/2025 20:16

My mum absolutely refused to do either LPA after a cancer diagnosis at 74. It was untreatable but not terminal and was not expected to 'see her off' compared to her other co-morbidities.

Even after I begged her to consider the mess she'd had to deal with with her own parents she wouldn't reconsider as she felt she was surrendering her finances and health - we had a good, honest relationship so it hurt to think she thought I might abuse her finances or refuse healthcare.

As it happened she died due to sepsis very very quickly with no time to reverse the symptoms, and the finance LPA wouldn't have been used.

She also refused to set up a will so you can guess who had to pick all that up...

I'm in my 40s and have set up LPA and my will was done before I turned 40 and needs updating now. I've also written a letter explaining my wishes regarding DNR etc.

It's like house insurance - you set LPA up hoping you won't need it but it's there if the worst should happen. I can't imagine my kids being left to sort out my finances if I was incapable. It really is a straightforward process and (considering the problems it solves) excellent value for money.

Allthings · 04/12/2025 20:59

Lifestooshort71 · 04/12/2025 20:12

I recently completed my LPA and posted it off with the requisite check - according to my bank, the cheque was cleared 2 weeks later but, according to the LPA website, my document had yet to be received let alone opened. Odd. Anyway, 2 weeks later it was flagged as 'Received' with a note that it could now take 16 weeks for the process to be completed. 16 weeks!!

@Lifestooshort71 when I helped my neighbour in the summer, it was posted in September and it was done and dusted by the end of October, so quicker than expected.

QuinionsRainbow · 04/12/2025 21:36

NameChanger20252 · 04/12/2025 17:06

£92 is a bargain! My mum just paid over £600 for hers (both health and finance) Looks like she was ripped off.

No she wasn't.

There are two elements to the cost. Registration of the completed fully documented LPA costs £92 (currently) paid to the Government, while preparation of the documentation itself costs whatever the agent preparing it charges. Our solicitor charged in the region of £1000 each for doing all the necessary legwork. You can do it yourself for free, apart from printing, copying, postage etc., but there is a lot of leg-work involved doing it this way.
If your Mum paid over £600, then she obviously paid someone around £500 to prepare the paperwork.

Somersetbaker · 05/12/2025 11:35

Lifestooshort71 · 04/12/2025 20:12

I recently completed my LPA and posted it off with the requisite check - according to my bank, the cheque was cleared 2 weeks later but, according to the LPA website, my document had yet to be received let alone opened. Odd. Anyway, 2 weeks later it was flagged as 'Received' with a note that it could now take 16 weeks for the process to be completed. 16 weeks!!

I think they have to notify the donor and the attorneys that the lpa is being registered and then give them time to object, as there is an obvious opening for coersion and fraud. It takes as long as it takes, a bit like waiting for probate to be granted