LPA for Care Home Decisions in England: Which Authority You Need

Your parent needs to move into a care home. The GP agrees, the social worker agrees, and the family agrees. But who actually has the legal authority to choose the care home, sign the admission contract, and authorise the funding? The answer depends on which LPA your parent has — and many families discover the gap only when a care home asks "who is the decision-maker?" and nobody can give a clear answer.

Which LPA Covers Care Home Placement?

A Health and Welfare LPA is the document that gives attorneys authority over care home decisions. This includes:

• Choosing which care home the parent moves into
• Deciding between residential care, nursing care, or specialist dementia care
• Agreeing to the care plan with the home's management
• Making decisions about daily routines, diet, visitors, and activities within the home
• Consenting to or refusing medical treatment provided by the home

A Property and Financial Affairs LPA does not give authority over care placement — it covers paying the bills. The financial attorney can settle care home invoices, manage direct debits for fees, and authorise the sale of property to fund care. But they cannot choose which care home the parent goes to, or agree to the care plan.

In practice, care home admission requires both types of authority working together. The health attorney chooses the home; the financial attorney pays for it.

The Admission Contract Problem

Most care homes present a single admission contract that covers both the care arrangements and the payment terms. If one person holds both LPAs, they can deal with both parts. If different people hold each LPA, ask the care home and local authority to reflect the split: the health and welfare attorney deals with personal-welfare provisions, while the financial attorney deals with payment and other financial terms.

The complication arises when a parent has no Health and Welfare LPA. The financial attorney can pay the fees, but the care home may not accept their signature on the care provisions. The local authority social worker or NHS clinical team then makes the placement decision, and the family's input becomes advisory rather than authoritative.

This is why most solicitors and the OPG recommend setting up both LPAs. The financial LPA alone leaves a gap in the exact situation where families need the most control.

Attendance Allowance and Care Home Fees

Attendance Allowance is a non-means-tested benefit for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care. It pays at two rates:

• Lower rate: £76.70 per week (daytime or nighttime care needs)
• Higher rate: £114.60 per week (both daytime and nighttime care needs, or terminal illness)

There's a critical rule for care home residents: Attendance Allowance stops 28 days after the local authority starts contributing to care home fees. If your parent is entirely self-funding, Attendance Allowance continues in full — and at the higher rate, that's £5,959 per year towards care costs.

This creates a strategic timing question. When a self-funding parent's capital approaches the £23,250 upper capital limit and they transition to council-funded care, the Attendance Allowance stops. Families who are aware of this threshold can plan the transition more carefully, using the final months of Attendance Allowance to supplement the diminishing savings.

Claiming Attendance Allowance requires someone to complete the DWP form and provide details of the parent's care needs. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA attorney can handle the benefits claim. If the parent is in a care home and lacks capacity, the attorney fills in the form on their behalf, detailing the level of assistance the parent receives with personal care tasks.

When the Local Authority Gets Involved

If your parent is assessed as needing residential care and the local authority is contributing to fees (i.e., your parent is not a full self-funder), the council's role in placement decisions changes:

Council-funded or partly funded: The local authority has a duty to arrange care home placement and will offer a home within its contracted rate. The family can choose a different, more expensive home — but they must arrange a "top-up" payment to cover the difference between the council's rate and the home's actual fee. A Health and Welfare attorney can advocate for a specific home, but the council's obligation is to the standard rate.

Self-funded: The council has no obligation to arrange placement, though the family can request that the council contract with the care home on the parent's behalf. The council may charge an administrative fee for this service. The advantage is that the council's negotiated rate is often lower than the rate a self-funder would be quoted directly.

Planning the Transition Into Care

Families who have both LPAs in place before a crisis hits can manage the transition more smoothly:

1. The health attorney visits care homes, checks CQC ratings, and selects a suitable placement
2. The financial attorney calculates whether the parent's estate can sustain the fees, considering the means test thresholds and the 12-week property disregard
3. The health attorney signs the care provisions of the admission contract
4. The financial attorney arranges payment — either from savings, or by applying for a deferred payment agreement if the family home needs to fund care
5. If the parent hasn't already claimed it, the financial attorney applies for Attendance Allowance

Without both LPAs, each of these steps becomes harder. Without the Health and Welfare LPA, the family loses control over where the parent lives. Without the Property and Financial Affairs LPA, no one can access the funds to pay for it.

The England Lasting Power of Attorney & Deputyship Kit includes a care home transition checklist covering both the health and financial steps, with worked examples for self-funders, council-funded residents, and the critical transition period when capital approaches the £23,250 threshold.

See more England guides →