How much does a lasting power of attorney cost? Fees, discounts and solicitor charges
The £92 fee to register each lasting power of attorney, who pays half or nothing, what solicitors charge and what a deputyship costs if there is no LPA.
How much does a lasting power of attorney cost?
The only fee you have to pay is £92 to register each lasting power of attorney (LPA) with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), and because each type is a separate document with its own fee, making both a property and financial affairs LPA and a health and welfare LPA costs £184 in total. GOV.UK's page on registering a lasting power of attorney sets out the fee, and the OPG's online service says it is free to complete your LPA online, so the £92 is charged only when you apply to register.
The fee rose from £82 to £92 for applications the OPG received from 17 November 2025, which GOV.UK announced in August 2025. You can pay by credit or debit card or by cheque made out to "Office of the Public Guardian". If you make the LPA through the online service you can pay by card at the end, whereas on a paper form you tick the card box and give a phone number, and the OPG then contacts you with a payment link. The OPG cannot register an LPA until the fee has been paid.
The steps for choosing attorneys, signing the forms and registering them are set out in our guide to setting up a lasting power of attorney.
Can you get the LPA fee reduced or waived?
Yes, and the test is always the donor's own circumstances, not those of the attorney who might be sending the application. GOV.UK's page on applying for a reduced fee for your power of attorney, updated in November 2026, describes two kinds of help.
Exemption (no fee): the donor pays nothing if they get certain means-tested benefits when the application is made. The current LPA120 form lists the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, Council Tax Support or Reduction (but not the single person discount) and Housing Benefit (but not where it is paid as part of Universal Credit), and it says a donor awarded personal injury damages of more than £16,000 cannot get an exemption.
Remission (half the fee): the donor pays £46 instead of £92 if their income before tax is low. GOV.UK describes the limit as an income of less than £12,000 a year, whilst the LPA120 form itself says no more than £12,000. A donor on Universal Credit is assessed for a remission rather than an exemption.
If the donor qualifies for neither but paying would cause financial hardship, the LPA120 form says you can write to the OPG with the application to ask for a reduction, and it will then ask for the information it needs.
How do you apply for the LPA reduced fee or exemption?
You fill in form LPA120 and send it, with evidence, in the same envelope as the LPA you want to register, because the OPG will not consider a request made afterwards and GOV.UK states that retrospective refunds are not possible. If you use the online service and are eligible, the completed reduction form is produced for you at the end.
The evidence has to show the donor's name and address, the type and amount of income or benefit, and the right period, which for an exemption means an entitlement letter covering the relevant financial year. For a remission, the form asks for documents such as the last three wage slips, a DWP letter showing the State Pension, pension provider letters, or 12 months of Universal Credit statements, and the OPG's LP12 guide adds that bank statements on their own are not proof of income. If a request is refused and you think that was wrong, you can ask for a review in writing within 28 days of the decision letter.
What does it cost to fix a mistake or start again?
If the OPG returns your LPA because of a mistake it cannot register, it may let you correct it and apply again within 3 months for £46, depending on the type of mistake, and that repeat fee is halved to £23 if the donor qualifies for a remission. Errors that cannot be corrected can mean making a new LPA and paying the fee again, and GOV.UK's forms page links to the OPG's guidance on avoiding errors.
Fees are otherwise non-refundable. GOV.UK does still list a scheme for a partial refund of power of attorney fees paid between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017, with interest, which the donor, an attorney or the executor of a donor who has died can claim, so it is worth checking if anyone in your family applied to register a power of attorney in those years.
How much does a solicitor charge for a lasting power of attorney?
There is no fixed price, although the consumer body Which? says, in its guide to what power of attorney is (updated February 2026), that using a solicitor to complete the application typically costs between £500 and £800. It does not say whether that range is for one LPA or both, or whether it includes the £92 fee, so it is worth asking any firm exactly what its quote covers. Age UK's factsheet on arranging for someone to make decisions on your behalf (August 2026) says only that solicitors' fees vary and suggests comparing a few.
Firms set their own prices, so it helps to know when professional help is likely to earn its fee. The OPG's LP12 guide says you do not need a lawyer unless your requirements are unusual or specific, and it points towards advice in situations such as living or owning property outside England and Wales, bankruptcy, or detailed instructions, whereas a straightforward LPA for a family member to act is the kind most people complete themselves. Other costs can sit alongside the drafting, because the LP12 guide notes that you may have to pay a professional who acts as your certificate provider, and that professional attorneys, such as solicitors, charge for acting, with those fees paid from your money. Family members and friends who act as attorneys are not paid unless the LPA says they should be, although they can still claim reasonable expenses such as postage and travel.
If you are arranging other documents at the same time, our guides to how much a will costs and to living wills and advance decisions cover those separately.
What does it cost if you do not have an LPA?
If you lose capacity without an LPA, someone you know would have to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as your deputy, and that route has an application fee, possible one-off costs and a supervision fee every year. GOV.UK's deputyship fees page and the HMCTS fee guide (COP44, updated July 2026) list the following:
Application fee: £432, paid twice if someone applies to be both a property and financial affairs deputy and a personal welfare deputy.
Hearing fee: £266 if the court decides the case needs a hearing, which GOV.UK says is not usual for property and financial affairs applications.
Security bond: a property and affairs deputy may have to pay for a bond, a type of insurance protecting your money, with the cost depending on the value of your estate and how much of it the deputy controls.
Assessment fee: £100, paid to the OPG by a new deputy.
Supervision fee: £320 a year for general supervision, or £35 a year for minimal supervision, which applies to some property and affairs deputies managing less than £21,000 after their first year.
Deputyship also takes time. In a written parliamentary answer on 1 June 2026, the Ministry of Justice said property and affairs deputyship applications in 2025 took an average of 23.9 weeks from receipt to final order, with a median of 15.6 weeks. Help with the cost of deputyship is available in some cases, through form COP44A for the court fee and form OPG120 for the OPG's assessment and supervision fees, and a property and affairs deputy can reclaim the application fee from your money. Deputies can also be professionals or local authorities, and the OPG notes that professional and public authority deputies are allowed to charge for their work.
Set against these figures, a registered LPA costs £92 once and carries no annual supervision fee, although it does stop when you die, as our guide to whether power of attorney ends at death explains.
What does power of attorney cost in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
In Scotland, the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) charges £99 to register a power of attorney, whether continuing, welfare or combined, for documents submitted from 1 April 2026, and the regulations setting that fee raise it to £102 from 1 April 2027. A Scottish power of attorney also needs a certificate signed by a solicitor, advocate or doctor, so that has to be arranged as well, and the office offers a fee exemption to people on certain benefits.
In Northern Ireland, an enduring power of attorney is registered with the Office of Care and Protection only when the donor is becoming unable to manage their affairs, and the Department of Justice lists the EPA registration fee as £189. Its guidance notes say the fee is normally paid from the donor's estate and that the office will consider postponing or waiving it in cases of hardship.
What to do next
Decide whether you want one LPA or both, so you know whether the fee is £92 or £184.
Check the donor's income and benefits against the LPA120 form before you apply, because a reduction cannot be claimed later.
If you are using a solicitor, ask for a written quote that says whether it covers one or both LPAs, the registration fee and any certificate provider charge.
Read the LP12 guide before signing, because a mistake can cost a repeat fee or a whole new LPA.
Send the LPA, the fee or LPA120 and any evidence together to the OPG.
An LPA ends when you die, and your executors then have to find and tell every bank, utility, insurer and subscription you held, which is much quicker if you have left them a clear list, as our guide to sorting your affairs suggests. If that work does fall to your family, Legacy Trail's free notification service can contact the private-sector companies for them.
Frequently asked questions
The registration fee is £92 for each LPA in England and Wales, so making both types costs £184. There is no charge for the forms or for using the GOV.UK online service, and any solicitor's fee comes on top of the registration fee.
A donor who gets certain means-tested benefits, such as the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit, Council Tax Support or Reduction, or Housing Benefit that is not part of Universal Credit, pays nothing. The exemption is claimed on form LPA120, sent with the LPA and an entitlement letter, and people on Universal Credit are assessed for the half-price fee instead.
It is per LPA. Each type is a separate document, so a couple who each make both types would pay four fees, and someone making a second financial LPA for business affairs would pay for that one too.
Generally not, because the Office of the Public Guardian says its fees are non-refundable and a reduction has to be requested at the time you apply to register. The only refund scheme GOV.UK lists covers fees paid between April 2013 and March 2017.
Usually, yes. A deputyship application costs £432 to the court, a new deputy pays a £100 assessment fee and there is an annual supervision fee of £320 or £35, whereas an LPA costs £92 to register once. A deputyship can also take several months to put in place.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.