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A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) gives legal authority to a trusted friend or relative to make decisions and deal with the affairs of someone unable to do this for themselves.

It is always recommended that people sign an LPA while they have the mental capacity to do so. This means that, should they ever lose this ability, their attorney will be able to step in to help them. An LPA can be signed in respect of property and financial affairs or in respect of health and welfare matters.

Once an LPA has been signed, it can either be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian or stored with other important papers until needed.

It may be the case that where someone has made an LPA in the past, they may wish to end or change it. This is perfectly possible provided they still have the mental capacity to understand the situation and make the decision knowingly.

How to end a Lasting Power of Attorney

To revoke your LPA, you need to have a deed of revocation drawn up. This must have set wording including full details of the original LPA. You can ask an experienced LPA solicitor to draw this up for you. Once it has been signed, it should be sent to the Office of the Public Guardian together with the original LPA.

You will also need to tell your proposed attorney and anyone else who was notified about the existence of the LPA. You should ask your attorney to let you have any copies of the LPA that they hold.

Other situations in which an LPA can be ended

An LPA will end in the following situations:

• Your attorney loses mental capacity or the ability to make decisions
• Your attorney was your spouse or civil partner and you divorce or dissolve your civil partnership
• Your attorney is declared bankrupt or made the subject of a debt relief order – this only applies if they are an attorney under a property and financial LPA, not a health and welfare LPA
• The Court of Protection removes your attorney from their role
• Your attorney dies and you did not appoint a replacement and they were your sole attorney – if you appointed more than one attorney, any remaining attorneys can continue to act
• When you die – from this point on, your executors appointed in your Will are responsible for dealing with your estate

Changing your LPA

If you have more than one attorney and you want to remove one of them, for example, if your original choice has moved away or you think they might struggle to deal with your affairs if they were called upon to do so, you can do this by making a partial deed of revocation. The LPA itself should not be amended as this could make it invalid. Instead, you should send a partial deed of revocation to the Office of the Public Guardian and notify all attorneys as well as those close to you of what decisions you have made.

Contact us

If you would like any further information on Lasting Power of Attorneys, please contact one of our Wills, Probate, Tax and Trusts experts.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.