Quick answer
The two types of LPA — and which to set up first
Updated · Part of Power of attorney for an elderly parent (England & Wales)
There are two types of lasting power of attorney in England and Wales: property and financial affairs (money, bills, bank accounts, property) and health and welfare (care, medical treatment, where your parent lives). Set up both at the same time if you can — the extra effort is small and each covers decisions the other cannot. If you are forced to choose, the property and financial affairs LPA usually unblocks the most urgent care admin first.
They are separate legal documents, made and registered separately, and they follow different rules about when they can be used. This guide sets out what each covers, the one rule about health and welfare LPAs that surprises families, and how LPAs relate to the other documents people mean when they search “types of power of attorney”.
This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice. For advice about your own situation, speak to a regulated professional, or a free service such as Citizens Advice or Age UK.
What does a property and financial affairs LPA cover?
This is the money document. An attorney under a property and financial affairs LPA can, on your parent’s behalf:
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Banking | Operating accounts, moving money, dealing with the bank |
| Bills and income | Paying utilities and care fees, managing pensions |
| Benefits | Claiming and managing benefits such as Attendance Allowance |
| Tax | Dealing with HMRC |
| Property | Maintaining, buying or selling the home |
Crucially, your parent chooses when it can be used: either as soon as it is registered — handy if they still have capacity but find banking and paperwork exhausting — or only once they lack capacity. Many older people like the first option because it lets a trusted child take over the admin gradually, while they still oversee everything.
What does a health and welfare LPA cover?
This is the care document. An attorney under a health and welfare LPA can make decisions about:
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Daily care | Washing, dressing, eating, daily routine |
| Medical treatment | Consenting to or refusing treatment |
| Where they live | Staying at home with care, or moving to a care home |
| Life-sustaining treatment | Only if the donor ticks the option — see below |
When can each type be used?
This is the difference that matters most, and the one families most often get wrong:
- A property and financial affairs LPA can be used while your parent still has capacity (if they chose that option) and after capacity is lost.
- A health and welfare LPA can be used only once your parent lacks the capacity to make the particular decision themselves. While they can still decide where to live or whether to accept treatment, they decide — the LPA waits.
Capacity here is decision-by-decision, not all-or-nothing. A parent with dementia might lack capacity to manage an investment portfolio but still be perfectly able to decide what they eat and wear. Attorneys step in only where, and only when, they are needed — and even then must act in your parent’s best interests under the Mental Capacity Act, taking their known wishes into account (the duties are set out at gov.uk/lasting-power-attorney-duties).
Both types must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used at all, and registration can take up to around 20 weeks — one more reason to do this early.
What about life-sustaining treatment?
The health and welfare form contains one decision bigger than the rest: whether attorneys can consent to or refuse life-sustaining treatment on your parent’s behalf. Your parent chooses, explicitly and with a witnessed signature, between giving attorneys that power or leaving those decisions to doctors acting in their best interests.
There is no right answer, but there is a right process: your parent should decide this themselves, ideally after a proper conversation with the family about what they would want. Signed either way, it removes an agonising ambiguity at the worst possible moment.
Why make both at once?
Because the marginal effort is tiny and the cost of a missing one is not:
- Same session. The forms follow the same structure, the same certificate provider can be used for both, and one signing session covers everything.
- Separate fees, modest total. Each LPA costs £92 to register — £184 for both (fee correct as of 2026 — check gov.uk). Reductions apply on low income; see our full guide to power of attorney costs.
- No second chance. The LPA a family typically skips is health and welfare — and it is exactly the one they wish they had when a care-home decision or treatment question arrives. If capacity has gone by then, it cannot be added.
If your parent will genuinely only do one for now, start with property and financial affairs — frozen bank accounts and unpaid care fees are the problems that hit fastest — and treat health and welfare as the immediate next job, not a someday job.
What about the other kinds of power of attorney?
People searching “types of power of attorney” often mean these too, so here is the quick disambiguation:
- Enduring power of attorney (EPA). The old system. EPAs made before 1 October 2007 are still valid, but cover property and finance only, and must be registered with the OPG once the donor is losing capacity. If your parent has an EPA, it still works — but consider adding a health and welfare LPA while they have capacity.
- Ordinary (general) power of attorney. A temporary, finance-only arrangement — useful while someone is in hospital, for example — that ends automatically if capacity is lost. It is not a substitute for an LPA, because it fails at exactly the moment an LPA is needed.
- Deputyship. Not a power of attorney at all, but the Court of Protection route a family uses when capacity has already been lost and no LPA or EPA exists. Slower and dearer — see what to do if a parent has lost mental capacity.
Do Scotland and Northern Ireland use the same types?
No — this guide covers England and Wales. Scotland has continuing (financial) and welfare powers of attorney, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian in Scotland (mygov.scot). Northern Ireland still uses enduring powers of attorney for financial matters (nidirect.gov.uk). Follow the system for where your parent lives.
Where to go from here
For the full process — capacity rules, choosing attorneys, step-by-step registration — see our complete guide to power of attorney for an elderly parent.
And while you are sorting the legal side, make sure the money side is claimed. A financial attorney (or a free DWP appointee) can claim benefits on a parent’s behalf, and Attendance Allowance and Pension Credit are two of the most under-claimed. Our free benefits check shows in a few minutes what your parent may be entitled to.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the two types of lasting power of attorney?
- In England and Wales there is a property and financial affairs LPA, covering money, bills, benefits, bank accounts and property, and a health and welfare LPA, covering care decisions, medical treatment and where the person lives. They are separate documents, each registered with the Office of the Public Guardian for £92 (fee correct as of 2026 — check gov.uk).
- When can a health and welfare LPA be used?
- Only once the donor lacks the mental capacity to make the particular decision themselves. Unlike a property and financial affairs LPA, it can never be used while the donor can still decide — they keep making their own care and medical decisions for as long as they are able to.
- Can a property and financial affairs LPA be used straight away?
- Yes, if the donor chooses. When making it, the donor decides whether attorneys can act as soon as it is registered — useful for a parent who finds banking difficult — or only once capacity is lost. Either way it must be registered before it can be used at all.
- Should you make both types of LPA at the same time?
- Usually, yes. The forms are similar, the same certificate provider can be used, and the effort of doing both together is only slightly more than doing one. Each type covers decisions the other cannot, and if capacity is later lost it is too late to add the missing one.
- Who decides about life-sustaining treatment under an LPA?
- The donor chooses, on the health and welfare form, whether their attorneys can consent to or refuse life-sustaining treatment on their behalf, or whether doctors should decide based on the donor's best interests. It is an explicit, signed option — it never happens by default.
- Is an enduring power of attorney still valid?
- Yes, if it was made before 1 October 2007. An EPA covers property and finance only and must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian once the donor is losing capacity. It cannot cover health and welfare decisions, so adding a health and welfare LPA alongside it is often sensible while capacity remains.