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Lasting Power of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal instrument by which a person ("the donor") authorises one or more other people ("attorneys") to make decisions on their behalf if they later lose mental capacity. There are two distinct types in England and Wales: LPA for Property and Financial Affairs (covering money, property, bills, and contracts) and LPA for Health and Welfare (covering medical treatment and where the donor lives). The LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before the attorney can act. [source: gov-uk/power-of-attorney-2026-04-30.html]

The fundamental rule for bereavement: an LPA — and every other form of power of attorney — ends immediately on the death of the donor. The attorney has no authority whatever to act in the deceased's name from the moment of death onwards. This is not negotiable, not discretionary, and not modifiable by the document itself. [source: gov-uk/power-of-attorney-2026-04-30.html]

Older instruments still in force include:

  • Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA): the pre-2007 system in England and Wales. EPAs created before 1 October 2007 remain valid and do not need to be replaced by LPAs, but they cover only Property and Financial Affairs (no Health and Welfare equivalent). Like LPAs, EPAs end immediately on death.
  • Continuing Power of Attorney (CPA) and Welfare Power of Attorney (WPA): the Scottish equivalents, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian for Scotland. Same rule: both end on death.
  • Northern Irish Enduring Power of Attorney: registered with the Office of Care and Protection in the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland. Same rule: ends on death. Northern Ireland does not currently have an LPA system equivalent to England and Wales' Health and Welfare LPA.

The attorney-versus-executor distinction: an attorney acts during the donor's lifetime, on the donor's behalf, with authority granted by the donor. An executor acts after death, on the estate's behalf, with authority granted by the will (and confirmed by a grant of probate). The roles are separate even where the same person holds both. There is no automatic transition: the attorney's authority ends at the moment of death; the executor's authority normally only begins when the grant of probate is issued. The gap between the two — typically several weeks — is uncomfortable but unavoidable in most cases. [source: gov-uk/power-of-attorney-2026-04-30.html]

Notification on death: the OPG should be told the donor has died so the LPA register can be updated. The notification is administrative rather than legally required (the LPA's authority has already ended at law), but it prevents the document from being misused later and clears the register. [source: gov-uk/office-of-the-public-guardian-2026-04-30.html]

→ Power of attorney after death

AfterLoss

See how AfterLoss handles collaboration and the successor system for the practical bridge between an LPA, which ends at death, and the executor's role, which begins at it.

See how AfterLoss handles planning mode for where LPA paperwork sits alongside the rest of someone's plan.

Last verified: 30 April 2026 against gov.uk/power-of-attorney.