HERE'S WHY
Capacity loss is not just a problem for old age. Strokes can happen at 30. Accidents happen every day. But very few people plan for it and that costs more than you might expect, in money and also in unnecessary stress.
THE NUMBERS NOBODY TELLS YOU
Most of us think that losing capacity is only something we need to worry about in old age, but the numbers around losing capacity in your lifetime are higher than most people think.
someone in the UK is hospitalised with a brain injury that could leave them without the capacity to make their own decisions.
Source: Headway
families have to apply to the Court of Protection because someone lost capacity without an LPA in place… and it can take a long time before they are allowed to step in.
Source: HMCTS Family Court Statistics
people will develop dementia in their lifetime.
Source: Alzheimer's Society
WHAT'S AT STAKE WITHOUT AN LPA
In the UK, if you lose mental capacity without a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, no one has the automatic legal right to manage your affairs on your behalf. Not your husband or wife. Not your adult children. Not the friend who's been by your side for over forty years.
Your family's only legal route is to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship. The court can take many months to appoint a deputy. It costs money up front and every year thereafter for as long as the deputyship is in place. And the judge, not you, decides who that person will be.
Bills, mortgage and care fees cannot easily be paid from your money without court permission. Joint accounts can be caught up in this as well as your sole ones.
Your property cannot be sold, remortgaged or rented to fund the care you may now need.
Doctors and social workers will decide your medical treatment, your daily care, and where you live. They will act in your best interests under the law, but they will not know what's most important to you like your loved ones do.
The person who ends up making every significant decision about your life may not be the person you would have chosen.
ONE THING TO UNDERSTAND
The day capacity is lost, the door closes. That is why Legacy Creators are on a mission to encourage every adult over 18 to get this done today.
HOW IT WORKS
An LPA is a legal document that names the people you trust to make decisions for you if you ever lose the mental capacity to make them yourself. Setting one up takes three stages.
You pick the people you trust to act on your behalf. Most clients name their partner, an adult child, or a trusted sibling. You can name up to four attorneys, plus replacements as backups.
You and your attorneys sign in the right order, in front of witnesses. A Certificate Provider confirms you understood and were not pressured. At Legacy Creators, we help you prepare the forms, walk you through the signing order, and check everything with you before it goes to the government. That way, your LPA goes through first time instead of needing to be corrected (which costs more).
The Office of the Public Guardian (a UK government body) checks and registers your LPA. This usually takes 8 to 12 weeks but it can take a lot longer. Once registered, your LPA is in place and ready, activating only when you want and need it to.
CHOOSE YOUR LPA SOLUTION
Each LPA protects a different part of your life. Most people choose both because money decisions and care decisions are equally important when capacity is lost.
Missing signatures. Wrong dates. Attorneys named incorrectly. Sections signed incorrectly.
Each rejection costs you another 8 to 12 weeks (or more) of waiting, and the registration fee starts again.
We'll help you make sure yours is right first time.
Our LPA service covers England & Wales only. Scotland uses Continuing and Welfare Powers of Attorney under Scottish law; Northern Ireland uses Enduring Powers of Attorney. If you live in either, please start with a Free Legacy Review and we will set you up with the right instrument for your jurisdiction.
If you lose mental capacity, your bank freezes your accounts immediately. Without this LPA, your family has to apply to the Court of Protection (12 to 18 months+ and around £400 plus fees) before anyone can pay your mortgage, deal with HMRC, or manage your investments on your behalf.
This LPA puts the person YOU trust in the driver's seat from day one.
We'll guide you through every step.
Let's get it doneMoney decisions and care decisions are two different domains. Both need formal authority. Getting them both sorted out together saves £48 versus doing it separately, and also gives you free lifetime access to the ContinUnity Conversation Cards digital tool — the family operating system that brings everyone into the conversation.
This is what most Legacy Creators clients choose.
We'll guide you through every step.
Let's get it doneWithout this LPA, if you lose capacity through an accident, a stroke, or dementia, decisions about your care fall to your doctors and the state. Not to the people who know and care about you.
This LPA names the people YOU trust to speak for you. Where you live. The care you receive. End-of-life choices. They're YOUR choices, no one else's.
We'll guide you through every step.
Let's get it doneWHAT YOU'LL AVOID BY GETTING THIS DONE
The £408 court fee is not the real cost. The real cost is what happens to your everyday life, your family, and your credit while everyone waits for a stranger to be appointed to make your decisions.
The moment your bank has reason to believe you cannot make decisions for yourself, your account locks. Joint accounts too. Your partner's debit card stops working at the till. Bills cannot be paid from your savings.
Mortgage payments don't happen. Council tax doesn't get paid. Utilities go into arrears. Insurance premiums miss. Each one generates a letter, a phone call, a black mark. Your partner is now fielding calls from your creditors without the legal authority to act.
£408 to the court. Solicitor estimate £750 to £1,500. The form takes weeks to prepare. Hearings are months out. Meanwhile, bills keep arriving. Your family has to pay for them from their own money or watches them pile up.
Missed payments appearing on your credit file. Car insurance and life cover lapsed because the premiums went unpaid. You are now uninsured during the most vulnerable period of your life. Your credit will take years to recover.
A Deputy is appointed. Even when it is a family member, every major decision they make has to be reviewed by the court before it's approved. The annual deputy supervision fee of £320 to £820 kicks in. The simplest decisions now require court approval.
If your mortgage payments don't go through for 90+ days, your lender starts repossession proceedings. The family home hangs in the balance. Plus £1,500 to £2,500 in court and legal fees already gone. And years of credit damage. Plus the strain on your family, who have been holding it all together while you have been recovering.
It prevents every nightmare scenario on this page. Plus the Office of the Public Guardian Fee. One-time. Active for the rest of your life.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Quick, direct answers to the questions we get asked the most.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a UK legal document. It names the people you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you ever lose the mental capacity to make those decisions yourself.
There are two types. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA covers money, property, bills and investments. A Health and Welfare LPA covers your medical treatment, your day-to-day care, and where you live. Most people choose both.
Most people do. Money decisions and care decisions are two completely different domains under UK law and one LPA does not cover the other.
If you only have a Property and Financial Affairs LPA and you lose capacity, your attorneys can pay your bills but cannot make decisions about your care. The same in reverse. Buying both together with Legacy Creators saves £48 versus buying them separately.
At Legacy Creators, the Property and Financial Affairs LPA is £99 and the Health and Welfare LPA is £99. Both LPAs bought together are £150, saving £48 versus buying them separately.
On top of our fee there is the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee per LPA, paid directly to the government.
There are no ongoing fees. Your LPA is active for the rest of your life.
The Office of the Public Guardian typically takes 8 to 12 weeks to check and register an LPA from the date they receive the signed forms. It can take longer if anything on the forms is missing or incorrect, which is why we check yours before submission.
Once registered, your LPA is in place and ready to use whenever you need it.
Without an LPA in place, no one has the automatic legal right to manage your affairs. Not your spouse, not your adult children, not anyone.
Your family\'s only option is to apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship. The court can take several months to appoint a deputy. It costs around £408 in court fees plus solicitor costs of £750 to £1,500, plus an annual supervision fee for as long as the deputyship runs.
While you wait, your bank accounts may be frozen, bills cannot be easily paid, and decisions about your care pass to doctors and social workers who do not know you.
For the Property and Financial Affairs LPA, yes. You can choose to allow your attorneys to start acting on your behalf as soon as the LPA is registered, with your consent while you still have capacity. This is useful if you want help managing finances now, or if you want a smooth handover that does not require proving capacity loss.
Alternatively, you can specify that your attorneys can only act once you have lost capacity. The choice is yours.
For the Health and Welfare LPA, attorneys can only act when you have lost capacity. That is how the law is written.
Yes, as long as you still have mental capacity. You can revoke an existing LPA by writing a Deed of Revocation and notifying the Office of the Public Guardian and your attorneys.
If you want to change attorneys or change the terms, you typically need to create a new LPA. Once you have lost capacity, the LPA cannot be changed or cancelled.
Anyone aged 18 or over who has mental capacity. Most people choose a spouse or partner, an adult child, a trusted sibling, or a close friend. You can also use a professional such as a solicitor, but their fees will reduce the funds available for your care.
Bankruptcy disqualifies someone from acting as a Property and Financial Affairs attorney, but not as a Health and Welfare attorney.
You can name up to four attorneys plus up to two replacements as backups.
FROM A LEGACY CREATOR LIKE YOU
When I sat down to think about who I would actually trust with my money if something happened, I realised I had never thought about it before. I'm so grateful that Legacy Creators made me stop, think it through, and get this done.
YOUR CIRCLE OF TRUST. YOUR CHOICE.
Choose the right LPA solution for you. We'll help you get it done.