LPA Attorney Duties: Rights, Responsibilities & Limits

When someone appoints you as their attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney, they are placing enormous trust in you. But they are also placing you within a clear legal framework — the Mental Capacity Act 2005 — that defines exactly how you must behave and what limits apply to your authority.

This guide is useful both for people setting up an LPA (to understand what they're asking of their attorney) and for attorneys themselves (to understand what they're agreeing to).

The Legal Framework: The Mental Capacity Act 2005

All LPAs are governed by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the MCA Code of Practice. By signing an LPA, the attorney formally agrees to comply with both. The Code of Practice is available from the government's Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

The MCA establishes five core principles that every attorney must follow — not as guidelines, but as legal requirements.

• 1
  Assume capacity unless established otherwise. An attorney must assume that the donor (the person who made the LPA) can make their own decisions unless it has been specifically established that they cannot. Losing capacity is not an all-or-nothing event — a person may have capacity to make some decisions but not others.
• 2
  Support the donor to make as many decisions as possible. Before treating a decision as belonging to the attorney, all practical steps to help the donor make the decision themselves must be tried first — including waiting for a better time of day, using different communication methods, or providing additional information.
• 3
  An unwise decision is not evidence of incapacity. The donor retains the right to make decisions that others might consider unwise. An attorney cannot override a decision simply because they disagree with it or think they know better.
• 4
  Act in the donor's best interests at all times. When the attorney does make a decision on behalf of the donor, it must be in the donor's best interests — not the attorney's own interests, not the interests of the family, and not what the attorney personally would choose.
• 5
  Choose the least restrictive option. Before making any decision, the attorney must consider whether the same outcome could be achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the donor's rights and freedoms. The smallest intervention that achieves the purpose is always preferred.

What an Attorney Can Do

The specific powers available to an attorney depend on which type of LPA they hold. Both must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before they can be used.

Property & Financial Affairs attorney

• Pay bills and manage everyday finances on the donor's behalf
• Access and manage bank and building society accounts
• Buy and sell property on the donor's behalf
• Manage investments, pensions, and benefits
• Make gifts within limits set by the MCA (small seasonal gifts and gifts to charities the donor has previously supported)
• Act while the donor still has capacity, if the donor has chosen to allow this

Health & Welfare attorney

• Make decisions about day-to-day care — diet, daily routine, activities
• Decide where the donor lives, including care home placement
• Consent to or refuse medical treatment on the donor's behalf
• Make decisions about life-sustaining treatment — only if this authority was specifically granted in the LPA
• Deal directly with hospitals, care homes, and medical professionals

What an Attorney Cannot Do

The authority granted by an LPA has hard limits — and exceeding them is not just a breach of trust, it is potentially a criminal offence.

• Change the donor's will. An attorney has no authority to alter, revoke, or benefit from the donor's will. This is absolutely prohibited under the MCA.
• Make large or unusual financial gifts. Attorneys can make small, customary gifts (birthdays, weddings, charities the donor has historically supported) but cannot make substantial gifts to themselves or others without court approval — even if they believe the donor would have wanted this.
• Act in their own interest. Any decision that benefits the attorney at the expense of the donor is a breach of the MCA. Attorneys must always act in the donor's best interests, not their own.
• Act without registration. Using an unregistered LPA as if it were valid is not legally effective and may constitute fraud.
• Continue acting after the donor's death. An LPA automatically expires on the death of the donor. After that point, the executor named in the Will takes over.
• Overrule a donor who still has capacity. If the donor retains capacity to make a particular decision, the attorney cannot override it — even if they disagree.

Cancelling an LPA

A donor can cancel their LPA at any time, provided they still have mental capacity to do so. Cancellation requires a formal deed of revocation and notification to the OPG — simply telling your attorney verbally is not sufficient. Whether or not the LPA has been registered makes no difference to the right to cancel.