LPA vs Enduring Power of Attorney

October 2007 was the cut-off. After that date, no new EPAs could be created; the LPA replaced them entirely. But an EPA signed before that deadline hasn't gone stale. It remains legally enforceable, even now, though the rules it follows are distinctly older-generation.

Knowing which document you're dealing with matters because the two operate on different tracks: different scope, different registration rules, different safeguards. Anyone setting up powers of attorney from scratch today will create an LPA. But families dealing with a pre-2007 EPA need to understand what it can and can't do.

The EPA was the pre-2007 way of letting someone manage your finances if you lost the ability to do it yourself. "Enduring" meant it survived the loss of mental capacity, unlike an ordinary Power of Attorney which dies the moment capacity goes.

Finances only, though. That was the EPA's big limitation. No authority over medical decisions. No say in care arrangements. No input on where you'd live. If your family wanted a voice in those areas, the EPA was useless, and there was no alternative document available at the time.

Registration worked differently too. You didn't need to register an EPA while the donor was still well. It only went to the OPG once capacity started slipping or had already gone. Convenient at the time, but the lack of early oversight left the door open to problems that might have been caught sooner under today's system.

Parliament passed the Mental Capacity Act in 2005; it came into force two years later, in October 2007, and with it the EPA era ended. What replaced it looked quite different.

LPAs come in two types: Property and Financial Affairs, and Health and Welfare. The second type was entirely new. For the first time, you could formally appoint someone to make medical and personal care decisions on your behalf.

LPAs must be registered with the OPG before they can be used, even while the donor still has capacity. This upfront registration provides a layer of protection that EPAs lacked.

The LPA process includes a certificate provider requirement. Somebody independent has to confirm that the donor understands what they're signing and isn't being pressured. EPAs had no equivalent safeguard.

LPAs also allow the donor to name "people to notify" when the document goes for registration. These individuals can raise concerns or objections if they believe something is wrong. Again, EPAs didn't include this.

A properly executed EPA from before the cut-off date still works. Nobody is forcing you to swap it for an LPA. That said, there are a few things worth knowing about what your EPA can actually do in practice.

An unregistered EPA can be used immediately for financial decisions while you have capacity. It functions like a regular Power of Attorney in that respect.

Once you start to lose capacity (or have already lost it), the EPA must be registered with the OPG before your attorney can continue acting. Registration currently costs 82 pounds and takes several weeks. Your attorney is legally required to notify you and certain family members when they apply to register, giving people the chance to object if they have concerns.

After registration, your attorney can continue to manage your finances even though you've lost capacity. That's the "enduring" part working as intended.

What an EPA cannot do, under any circumstances, is give your attorney authority over health and welfare decisions. If you want someone to have a say in your medical treatment, care arrangements, or where you live, you need a Health and Welfare LPA. There is no other route.

If the EPA is doing its job on the financial front, there's no pressure to change anything. Some people, though, find there are compelling reasons to upgrade.

The biggest reason is the health and welfare gap. An EPA doesn't cover it, and it never will. Health and welfare is the obvious gap. An EPA can't touch it, and it never will. If you want someone to have a voice in your medical care and personal welfare, a Health and Welfare LPA is the only option, whether or not you keep the EPA for money matters.

The LPA's built-in safeguards are another draw: mandatory registration before use, an independent certificate provider checking you understand what you're signing, and "people to notify" who can raise a red flag if something looks wrong. The EPA was designed in a less cautious era.

Then there's the practical question of whether the attorneys you named 20-odd years ago are still the right choices. People die, move abroad, fall out. A new LPA gives you a clean slate. A new LPA gives you the opportunity to appoint different people.

On the practical side, some banks and financial institutions are more familiar with LPAs than EPAs, particularly staff who have joined the industry since 2007. While they're legally required to accept both, you may find that an LPA is processed more smoothly in practice.

Yes. An existing EPA and a new LPA can coexist. Many people keep their EPA in place for financial matters while creating a new Health and Welfare LPA to cover the personal and medical side. They run in parallel without any conflict.

If at some point you also create a Property and Financial Affairs LPA (replacing the EPA on the money side), you should formally revoke the EPA. Having two active documents covering the same decisions creates confusion that banks and other institutions don't appreciate. Your solicitor or the OPG can advise on how to do that cleanly.

If you currently have an EPA and want to add Health and Welfare coverage, our LPA service can help. If you'd prefer to replace your EPA entirely with a modern LPA, we can guide you through that too. The process takes about 20 to 30 minutes online, and both types of LPA are available.