What happens if I don’t have an LPA?

What happens if I lose mental capacity without an LPA in place? What are the risks of not having an LPA?

As experienced Will writers and estate planning specialists, we cannot overstate the importance of having Lasting Powers of Attorney in place. The consequences of lacking these vital documents can be devastating for both you and your loved ones.

There are two types of LPAs, one for health and welfare, and the other for property and finance. There is a long form that needs to be filled in, and a process that must be followed meticulously for you to properly appoint attorneys to act on your behalf.

Being mentally capable of appointing attorneys and aware of the implications is a key prerequisite to starting this process.

What happens if you lose mental capacity without an LPA?

The answer is both simple and quite alarming. Nobody – not your spouse, children or closest relatives – has an automatic legal authority to make decisions on your behalf.

If you lose mental capacity without a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, your loved ones will need to apply to the Court of Protection to become your deputy, which can be a lengthy and costly process.

This means you lose the ability to choose who manages your affairs, and the court will decide based on what they deem to be your best interests, which may not align with your wishes.

What are the risks of not having an LPA?

Without LPAs in place, you lose the ability to choose who makes decisions for you regarding your health, finances and property.

Without a financial LPA, your financial affairs effectively become frozen. Banks will refuse to allow anyone access to your accounts. Bills remain unpaid. Investments cannot be managed and property cannot be sold – even if these actions are desperately needed to fund your care or support your family.

Without a health LPA, medical treatment decisions, care arrangements and daily living choices will be made by professionals – and not an attorney you have appointed.

Can my family automatically make decisions for me if I don’t have an LPA?

This is perhaps the most dangerous misconception that we encounter. No family member, regardless of relationship, can automatically make decisions for you.

Your spouse of 50 years, your devoted children, your business partner – none have legal authority to act without proper documentation. The law does not recognise next of kin as having automatic decision-making powers for incapacitated adults.

Who gets to make decisions about my finances or healthcare if I haven’t appointed anyone?
When no LPA exists and you are not able to act or speak for yourself, someone must apply to the Court of Protection to become your deputy.

How long does it take to get someone appointed if there’s no LPA?

The application process of the Court of Protection typically takes six to 12 months and involves quite substantial costs.

What are the costs involved if someone has to apply to the Court of Protection to act on my behalf?

A breakdown of costs could look something like this. You’d have application fees of £429 per type of Power of Attorney being applied for – so you can typically multiply this by two for health and wealth.

Court fees might be applied. There’s an additional £259 cost if a hearing is needed to go through the application and supporting evidence. There’s an assessment fee of approximately £1,000 per annum for supervision of the deputy.

Let’s not forget legal costs, which are often £3,000 to £10,000 plus VAT in professional fees to prepare and, if needed, present the application to the judge.

Being a deputy requires ongoing supervision, and there can be onerous annual reporting requirements and fees. Just to put this in perspective, our fees are £350 plus VAT and a government filing fee of £82 for the preparation filing of all paperwork related to a single LPA.

We will discount this if you take two or four LPAs at the same time. Unfortunately, everybody has to pay the government filing fees of £82 per LPA, but when processed this provides immediate authority if needed [All costs mentioned are correct at the time of recording in July 2025].

Is it more expensive or time-consuming to manage someone’s affairs through the Court of Protection compared to having an LPA?

Managing someone’s affairs through the Court of Protection is significantly more expensive and time-consuming than having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place.

An LPA costs £82 to register or free if you’re on certain benefits – plus our very reasonable preparation costs. Court of Protection applications start at around £400 to £800 for basic applications, with more complex cases costing thousands [All costs mentioned are correct at the time of recording in July 2025].

As I said before, you’ll also need to pay legal preparation fees, ongoing supervision fees, annual reporting costs and often require legal representation costs throughout.

The time differences can also be critical. While you are able, an LPA takes eight to 10 weeks to register once submitted, and can be used immediately when needed. A Court of Protection application typically takes six to 12 months to process – and sometimes longer for complex cases. Every major decision may require separate court applications with additional waiting times.

It’s also important to think about ongoing management. LPA attorneys can make decisions quickly and independently within their authority. But Court-appointed deputies must often seek court approval for significant decisions, file annual reports, and may need professional supervision – all adding delays and costs.

The Court of Protection route also creates more stress for families during already difficult times, as they must navigate legal proceedings while dealing with someone’s loss of capacity.

This is why we strongly recommend setting up LPAs while someone still has mental capacity – it’s far more efficient and cost-effective than the court intervention that becomes necessary without them.

Can decisions be delayed without an LPA? For example, paying bills or selling property?

Yes, decisions can be significantly delayed without an LPA, and this can create serious practical and financial problems. Without an LPA, you cannot legally access someone’s bank accounts to pay bills, sell their property, make investment decisions, cancel or arrange insurance, deal with pension providers, or make decisions about care funding.

The immediate consequences are that bills will continue to arrive but cannot be paid from the person’s accounts. Direct debits may fail, leading to service disconnections, late payment charges and damaged credit ratings. Property maintenance, insurance premiums, and care costs become impossible to manage.

While you’re waiting six to 12 months for Court of Protection proceedings, financial obligations don’t stop. Utility companies, mortgage lenders and care providers still expect payment and the person’s financial situation can deteriorate rapidly.

They might face utility disconnections, mortgage arrears and potential repossession proceedings. There could be care funding gaps; investment losses from the inability to manage portfolios, or property deterioration from lack of maintenance.

Selling properties is particularly problematic. Even once court authorisation is granted, we all know that selling a property takes many, many months. Adding the delay at the court could potentially cause chains to collapse and lost sales.

That having been said, in urgent situations, the Court of Protection can grant interim orders. These still take weeks and require legal applications costing hundreds of pounds.

This is why having an LPA is so crucial. It allows attorneys to step in immediately when capacity is lost, preventing these cascading financial problems from developing in the first place.

How difficult is it for loved ones to access my bank accounts or manage my care without one?

I think by now it’s clear that it’s not possible for loved ones to access your finances or manage care arrangements without the correct LPAs in place.

Will I lose control if I create an LPA now or does it only take effect later?

This is a very good question – and something that concerns many people when they are considering making Lasting Powers of Attorney. You don’t lose any control by creating an LPA now. It only takes effect when you actually need it and you retain complete control until then.

A property and finance LPA can be used as soon as it’s registered, but only if you give permission or lose mental capacity. A health and welfare LPA cannot be used at all until you lose mental capacity.

So while you have capacity, you make all your own decisions as normal. Your attorneys cannot override your choices. You can also revoke the LPA at any time, and change your attorneys.

For financial matters, you choose whether attorneys can act while you still have capacity.
And just as a note, many people do actually say no to this. Many people specify that their property and finance LPAs should only be used when they lack capacity, giving them complete peace of mind that attorneys cannot interfere while they are mentally able to do so.

So, you remain in control of:

• When and how the LPA is used
• Who your attorneys are
• What powers they have
• Any restrictions or guidance you want to include
• The ability to cancel it entirely
  
  

Creating an LPA is like having insurance – you’re not claiming on the policy, just making sure it’s there if needed. You continue living and making decisions exactly as before, but with the security that trusted people can step in seamlessly if circumstances change.
This is why it’s often called ‘planning for peace of mind’ rather than ‘giving up control.’

Can disagreements among family members make things worse if there’s no LPA?

Absolutely. Family disagreements can make an already difficult situation dramatically worse when there’s no LPA in place.

Without an LPA, disputes often escalate because no one has clear authority to act. Multiple family members may believe that they should be in charge. Decisions get delayed while relatives argue about what’s best.

Emergency situations become crises when families can’t agree quickly. When the Court of Protection gets involved, family disputes become more formal and adversarial.

Different relatives might apply to become deputies themselves, object to other family members’ applications, contest decisions about care arrangements or finances, hire separate solicitors multiplying legal costs, and this creates real-world problems.

Care decisions become stalled while families argue, potentially affecting the person’s well-being. Property cannot be sold to fund care because relatives disagree on timing or price.

Bills go unpaid during lengthy family disputes. Medical decisions get delayed when families can’t reach consensus, and legal costs spiral as court hearings drag on with multiple parties involved.

Can a partner or spouse just step in without legal documents?

No, a partner or spouse cannot automatically step in to manage someone’s affairs without legal documents, even in long-term relationships or marriages.

Many people assume spouses have automatic legal rights to handle their partner’s finances or make decisions on their behalf, but this isn’t true in the UK. Marriage or civil partnership doesn’t grant these powers.

Without authority, spouses or partners cannot access their partner’s individual bank accounts, sell property in their partner’s sole name, make investment decisions, cancel or arrange insurance policies, deal with pension providers or benefits, or make healthcare decisions beyond certain emergency situations.

Even then, while doctors may consult close family members about treatment options, they cannot legally rely on a spouse’s consent for significant medical decisions if the patient lacks capacity.

Spouses can still use joint bank accounts, but they cannot access accounts solely in their partner’s name, regardless of how long they’ve been together or whether they’ve always managed finances jointly. Data protection laws and financial regulations don’t make exceptions for relationships.

What should I consider when choosing someone to be my attorney?

The key considerations when choosing your attorneys are primarily trust and reliability. Choose someone who genuinely has your best interests at heart. Someone with a proven track record of responsible decision-making, who will respect your values and preferences and not impose their own.

There are other practical capabilities that one should consider. Are they comfortable handling financial matters for property and finance LPAs? Do they have good organisational skills for managing paperwork and deadlines? Are they able to deal with banks, solicitors, and other professionals?

Do they live reasonably nearby, or can they travel when needed? Finally, what about availability and willingness? Select someone who actually wants to take on this responsibility.

It does help to ask them first. They should be likely to outlive you or at least remain capable for many years, and have time to fulfill the role properly and not be overwhelmed by their own circumstances.

You can consider appointing more than one person to share the workload, provide checks and balances in the process, and ensure coverage if one person becomes unable to act. You can choose whether they act jointly (i.e. together) or jointly and severally, which means they can act independently.

When is the best time to create an LPA?

As soon as possible, while you have mental capacity. There are no age restrictions, so you can create one at 18. It’s easier to think clearly about your preferences now when you’re not under pressure.

You’ll have more time to discuss wishes with your chosen attorneys. And of course, it avoids the risk of losing capacity before your LPAs are in place.

Other practical considerations are following major life changes such as marriage, divorce, a house purchase, or when you notice aging parents struggling. It’s important to get your paperwork in place before any planned surgery or medical treatment, just in case you need an attorney to step in.

Also, retirement planning or getting older might make you think about the future. These are the typical timing issues that make people put their LPAs in place.

It’s important to act soon. Don’t wait for signs of declining health or memory, or for a crisis to occur. People often say that they’ll do this when they are older – but capacity can be lost suddenly at any age, through illness or accidents.

We’ve covered a lot – have you got any final thoughts?

The question isn’t whether you can afford to create an LPA, it’s whether you can afford not to. Feel free to contact us to discuss how we can protect you and your family through comprehensive LPA planning tailored to your specific circumstances.