What is the difference between the two types of Lasting Power of Attorney?

This covers money and property. Your attorneys can pay bills, manage bank accounts, deal with benefits and sell or rent your home. You can allow them to use it as soon as it is registered, even while you still have capacity, or only when you have lost it.

This covers personal decisions such as medical treatment, daily care and where you live, including moving to a care home. It can only be used when you cannot make those decisions yourself. You decide whether your attorneys can make decisions about life-sustaining treatment, and you must say so in the document.

They are separate documents, and you can choose different people for each. Without a health and welfare LPA, doctors and care staff make decisions in your best interests and your family’s views are only one factor. Without a property and finance LPA, your family cannot manage your money, even for routine bills.

Both must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before they can be used. See our guide on how long registration takes.