Choosing Between Property and Financial Affairs vs Health and Welfare LPA

England has two separate Lasting Powers of Attorney, and they do completely different things. Most families need both. But they're registered individually, cost £92 each, and cover distinct decisions — so understanding what each one does (and doesn't do) before you start the process saves confusion and prevents gaps.

Property and Financial Affairs LPA

This LPA gives your attorneys authority over your parent's money, property, and financial obligations. The scope is broad:

• Banking: Access accounts, pay bills, manage direct debits, transfer funds between accounts
• Pensions and benefits: Claim Attendance Allowance, manage state pension payments, liaise with HMRC
• Property: Sell, let, or remortgage the family home (subject to any Section 7 restrictions)
• Investments: Manage savings, ISAs, premium bonds, stocks and shares
• Tax: Complete self-assessment returns, handle council tax, manage PAYE queries
• Contracts: Enter into or terminate service contracts, insurance policies, utility agreements

When it takes effect: A Property and Financial Affairs LPA can be used as soon as it's registered with the OPG — even while the donor still has capacity. The donor can choose to limit this (by adding a Section 7 instruction that it only takes effect upon loss of capacity), but the default allows immediate use with the donor's ongoing consent. This is useful for parents who are physically frail but mentally sharp — they might want help managing paperwork without giving up decision-making control.

What it doesn't cover: Medical treatment, care home placement decisions, daily routines, life-sustaining treatment. None of these fall under a Property and Financial Affairs LPA. An attorney who tries to authorise a medical procedure using this document has no legal authority to do so.

Health and Welfare LPA

This LPA covers personal care and medical decisions:

• Medical treatment: Consent to or refuse treatment on the donor's behalf
• Care arrangements: Decide between home care, residential care, or nursing care
• Care home placement: Choose where the donor lives, which care home, which room
• Daily routine: Diet, clothing, personal care, social activities, visitors
• Life-sustaining treatment (Option A): If the donor selects Option A, attorneys can make decisions about life-sustaining treatment. If they select Option B, medical teams make those decisions instead.
• Contact and communication: Who the donor sees, how often, and whether certain people should be restricted from visiting

When it takes effect: A Health and Welfare LPA can only be used after the donor has lost the mental capacity to make the specific decision in question. Unlike the financial LPA, it cannot be used while the donor still has capacity — even with the donor's permission. This is a hard legal boundary.

What it doesn't cover: Anything financial. A Health and Welfare attorney cannot access bank accounts, pay care home fees, sell property, or manage investments. If they're also named on the Property and Financial Affairs LPA, they can — but under the authority of that separate document, not this one.

Why Families Need Both

The two LPAs are designed to work together, and the gaps that appear when you only have one are immediate and practical.

Financial LPA only, no health and welfare: Your parent loses capacity and needs to move into a care home. You can access their bank accounts, pay the fees, even sell the family home. But you have no legal authority to choose which care home, consent to medical treatment, or make decisions about daily care. The local authority and NHS make those decisions, consulting you but not bound by your views. If you disagree with a placement, you have no legal standing to override it.

Health and Welfare LPA only, no financial: You can choose the care home, consent to medical treatment, and manage daily care decisions. But you can't pay for any of it. The bank won't release funds, you can't sell property, and care home invoices pile up with no one authorised to settle them. You'd need a Court of Protection deputyship for the financial side — £432 in court fees and months of processing.

The most common and practical setup is both LPAs, with the same attorneys named on each (though this isn't required — some families deliberately choose different people for financial and health decisions).

Registration and Costs

Each LPA is a separate document, separately registered:

• £92 per LPA — £184 total for both types
• Fee remission: 50% reduction (£46 per LPA) if the donor's gross annual income is below £12,000, using Form LPA120
• Full exemption if the donor receives certain means-tested benefits
• Processing time: 8 to 10 weeks per document; both can be submitted simultaneously

Each attorney named on the LPA must sign the physical document in the correct order (donor first, then certificate provider, then attorneys). If you're creating both LPAs at once, that means two distinct documents, each with its own signing sequence, even if the attorneys are the same people.

How the Two Types Coordinate in Practice

When a parent needs care, the financial attorney and health attorney often need to act together. The health attorney decides where the parent should live; the financial attorney pays for it. If the same person holds both LPAs, coordination is straightforward. If different people hold each, clear communication is essential — a health attorney who chooses a care home at £1,500/week needs to know whether the financial attorney can sustain that from the parent's estate.

Section 7 preferences can help here. The donor can note: "I would prefer my attorneys to consult with each other before making significant decisions about my care or finances." This isn't legally binding, but it sets an expectation of cooperation.

The England Lasting Power of Attorney & Deputyship Kit covers both types of LPA with side-by-side setup guides, Section 7 wording libraries tailored to each document, and a coordination worksheet for families naming different attorneys on each LPA.

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