What is the OPG registration fee for an LPA?

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) charges £82 to register each LPA in England and Wales (as of 2026). This is a fixed government fee paid separately from any service provider fee — you cannot avoid it regardless of how you create the LPA. If you need both types (Health & Welfare and Property & Financial Affairs), the total OPG fee is £164. Fee exemptions apply if your income is under £12,000 (full exemption). A 50% remission (£41 per LPA) applies if your income is between £12,000 and £18,000.

Do I need both types of LPA?

In most cases, yes. A Health & Welfare LPA covers medical decisions and day-to-day care. A Property & Financial Affairs LPA covers bank accounts, bills, property, and investments. Each covers a completely different area of life — one does not substitute for the other. If you lose mental capacity without both in place, your family may need to apply to the Court of Protection for deputyship, which costs significantly more (£1,000+ in court fees alone) and takes months. Most LPA services offer bundled pricing for both types.

Can I do a DIY LPA through gov.uk?

Yes — gov.uk provides a free online tool to create an LPA. You do not pay a service fee to create the document. However, the £82 OPG registration fee still applies for each LPA you register. The risk of DIY is significant: the OPG rejects approximately 10–15% of DIY LPA applications due to errors in the forms — wrong section completed, missing signatures, incorrect certificate provider details. A rejected application means losing your registration fee and starting again. Guided services reduce this risk substantially.

When is a solicitor worth it for an LPA?

A solicitor is worth the premium for LPAs in specific situations: complex health conditions with specific treatment restrictions you want to document carefully, overseas property or business interests requiring specialist drafting, disputed family situations where an attorney's authority is likely to be challenged, the donor lacking mental capacity to use an online service without assistance, or where multiple replacement attorneys need carefully structured conditions. For most people — appointing a trusted adult child or spouse, with standard provisions — an online LPA service provides the same legal validity for a fraction of the cost.

What is the difference between a Health & Welfare LPA and a Property & Financial Affairs LPA?

A Health & Welfare LPA authorises your chosen attorney(s) to make decisions about your medical treatment, care home placements, daily routine, and life-sustaining treatment (if you grant that specific power). It can only be used once you have lost mental capacity — it cannot be used while you still have capacity. A Property & Financial Affairs LPA covers your bank accounts, investments, property, bills, and financial decisions. Unlike the Health & Welfare LPA, this type can be used while you still have capacity (with your permission) — useful if you want help managing finances during illness or travel. Both are registered through the OPG separately, each with its own £82 registration fee.

Lasting Power of Attorney Cost UK — How Much Does an LPA Cost in 2026?

Q: How much does a Lasting Power of Attorney cost in the UK in 2026?

A Lasting Power of Attorney in the UK costs the £82 OPG registration fee per LPA, plus any service fees on top. Online LPA services charge £100–£300 per LPA (so £264–£464 total per LPA including OPG). Solicitors charge £500–£1,500+ per LPA (£1,164–£3,164 total for both LPAs including OPG). DIY via gov.uk costs nothing to create but the £82 OPG registration fee still applies, making it £82 per LPA or £164 for both. Most people need both a Health & Welfare LPA and a Property & Financial Affairs LPA, so double all figures.

An LPA in the UK costs at minimum £82 — but that's just the government registration fee. The real cost depends on how you create it. Online services run £100–£300 per LPA. Solicitors charge £500–£1,500+. And most people need two LPAs, not one. Here's the complete breakdown.

The Short Answer: What an LPA Costs in 2026

Every Lasting Power of Attorney in England and Wales has a fixed £82 OPG registration fee — paid to the Office of the Public Guardian regardless of how you create the document. That's unavoidable. On top of that, you pay for the service (if any) that helps you create it.

Most people need both types of LPA — Health & Welfare and Property & Financial Affairs — which means the OPG fee alone is £164.

Total cost range in 2026:

DIY via gov.uk: £164 (OPG fees only, no service fee) — but 10–15% rejection rate
Online LPA service: £264–£464 total per LPA (service fee + OPG)
Solicitor: £1,164–£3,164+ total for both LPAs (solicitor fee + OPG)

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The OPG Registration Fee: £82 Per LPA

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) is the government body responsible for registering LPAs in England and Wales. Every LPA must be registered before it can be used — and registration costs £82 per LPA.

This fee is set by statute (the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated regulations) and is not negotiable, not avoidable, and not refundable if the application is rejected. It applies regardless of whether you use a solicitor, an online service, or the free gov.uk tool.

Fee exemptions and reductions:

Full exemption (£0 per LPA): If the donor's (the person making the LPA) gross annual income is under £12,000, the registration fee is waived entirely.
50% remission (£41 per LPA): If the donor's gross annual income is between £12,000 and £18,000, the fee is halved.
No reduction above £18,000.

To claim a fee exemption or remission, complete form LPA120A at the time of registration. You'll need to provide evidence of income (P60, state pension letter, or benefit statement). It's worth checking before you pay — many people in retirement who are otherwise financially comfortable have income below £18,000 and qualify for at least a partial reduction.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have different Power of Attorney frameworks — Scotland uses a Continuing Power of Attorney (no OPG, registered with the Office of the Public Guardian Scotland — a separate body with different fees), and Northern Ireland uses an Enduring Power of Attorney through the Office of Care and Protection. This article focuses on LPAs in England and Wales.

Online LPA Services: £100–£300

Online LPA services guide you through the forms, generate the completed documents, and provide instructions for signing and registering. They don't replace the OPG — you still pay the £82 fee per LPA to the government separately. What you're paying for is the guided drafting, error-checking, and document generation.

Online services significantly reduce the rejection risk. The OPG rejects roughly 10–15% of DIY LPA applications due to errors — a rejected application means losing your £82 and starting over. A guided service substantially reduces this risk.

2026 Comparison: LPA Services

Method	Service Fee (per LPA)	+ OPG Fee	Total (both LPAs)	Pros	Cons
ClearWill	Competitive	£82 each	See current pricing →	UK-wide (E&W, Scotland, NI), guided wizard, AI-assisted	No solicitor review included
Which? Legal	£99–£169	£82 each	£263–£333 per LPA (£526–£666 for both)	Trusted brand, clear guidance	England & Wales only, limited customisation
Co-op Legal Services	~£150 + VAT	£82 each	~£464+ for both LPAs	Established provider, telephone support	Expensive for a guided form service
Farewill	From £90	£82 each	~£344+ for both LPAs	Streamlined UX, reputable	England & Wales only
Solicitor	£500–£1,500+	£82 each	£1,164–£3,164+ for both LPAs	Full legal advice, complex situations handled	Expensive, slow, appointment-based
DIY (gov.uk)	Free	£82 each	£164 for both LPAs	Cheapest option	10–15% rejection rate, no guidance

Solicitor LPA Costs: £500–£1,500+ Per LPA

A solicitor-prepared LPA typically costs £500–£1,500 per document — and that's before the OPG registration fee on top. For both LPAs prepared by a solicitor, you're looking at £1,164–£3,164+ total.

Why so expensive? You're paying for qualified legal advice, professional indemnity insurance, their time (appointment + drafting + administration), and firm overhead. For a straightforward LPA, most of this cost doesn't correspond to legal complexity — it's just how solicitors price their services.

When a solicitor is genuinely worth it for an LPA:

Complex health conditions — where you want specific, carefully worded instructions about treatment preferences, named medical personnel, or restrictions on life-sustaining treatment decisions
Overseas property or business interests — where the LPA may interact with assets governed by foreign law
Disputed family situations — where you anticipate the attorney's authority being challenged, or where you're excluding someone who might expect to be named
Donor with reduced capacity — where mental capacity assessment is required as part of the process (a solicitor can act as the certificate provider and document capacity at the same time)
Multiple attorneys with complex conditions — where "jointly and severally" vs "jointly for all decisions" vs "joint for some" arrangements need careful legal drafting

For everyone else — naming a spouse or adult child as attorney with standard provisions — a guided online service provides the same legal validity for a fraction of the cost.

DIY LPA via Gov.uk: Free to Create, £82 to Register

The government provides a free online tool at gov.uk to create an LPA. You complete the forms online, print them, collect the required signatures and certificate provider declaration, and send the completed paper forms to the OPG with the £82 registration fee.

The catch: rejection risk. The OPG rejects approximately 10–15% of DIY LPA applications because of errors in the completed forms. Common mistakes include:

Signing or dating sections in the wrong order
The certificate provider signing the wrong section, or not meeting the independence requirements
Attorneys signing before the certificate provider
Missing initials on continuation sheets
Incorrect or incomplete attorney details
Forgetting to include the "life-sustaining treatment" preference in a Health & Welfare LPA

A rejected application doesn't just mean admin time — it means losing the £82 registration fee, which is not refunded. You then restart from scratch, paying another £82 on resubmission. For a £0 service fee, a rejected application effectively costs you £164 instead of £82 — the same as paying a modest service fee would have avoided entirely.

Health & Welfare vs Property & Financial Affairs LPA

There are two types of LPA in England and Wales. They cover completely different areas and neither substitutes for the other.

	Health & Welfare LPA	Property & Financial Affairs LPA
What it covers	Medical treatment, care home placement, daily routine, life-sustaining treatment (if granted)	Bank accounts, investments, property, bills, financial decisions
When it can be used	Only when donor has lost mental capacity	Can be used while donor still has capacity (with permission), and after capacity is lost
OPG registration fee	£82	£82
Can the same attorney serve both?	Yes — but they must be listed separately on each LPA. They are two separate legal documents.

The two documents are independent. If you only create a Property & Financial Affairs LPA and lose capacity, your family cannot make healthcare decisions without either a separate Health & Welfare LPA or an application to the Court of Protection — an expensive and time-consuming process.

What Affects the Cost?

Beyond the flat OPG fee, the service fee from a solicitor or online provider may vary based on:

Number of attorneys. Appointing multiple attorneys ("jointly" or "jointly and severally") adds complexity to the forms and may attract an additional fee from solicitors. Most online services handle multiple attorneys at no extra charge.
Replacement attorneys. A replacement attorney steps in if a primary attorney dies, loses capacity, or resigns. Including one (strongly recommended) adds a section to the document that some solicitors charge extra to draft carefully.
Restrictions and conditions. If you want to place limits on your attorney's powers — requiring them to consult a named person, restricting authority over certain assets, or setting conditions on when authority becomes active — this adds drafting complexity and solicitor time.
Certificate provider requirements. Every LPA requires a certificate provider — an independent person who certifies you understand what you're signing and aren't being pressured. A solicitor can act as certificate provider (and typically charges extra for this). A trusted friend or professional who has known you for more than two years can act for free.
Urgency. Solicitors charge premium rates for expedited drafting. Some online services offer faster processing for a fee. The OPG processing time is fixed (currently 8–20 weeks) regardless of how quickly you get the forms to them.

Hidden Costs People Forget

The upfront figures don't tell the full story. These are the costs most LPA comparison articles skip:

OPG registration fee per LPA. Covered above — but it surprises people who see a £99 service advertised and assume that's the total. It isn't. Add £82 per LPA on top.
Certified copy fees. Banks, care homes, and investment providers often require a certified copy of the registered LPA rather than the original. The OPG charges £35 for official office copies. Many people need 2–3 copies, adding £70–£105 to the total.
Storage. Keeping the original registered LPA safe is essential — without it, attorneys often cannot act. Some solicitors offer storage as a service (typically £20–£50/year). Some online services include digital storage; others don't.
Updating if circumstances change. An LPA cannot be amended after registration. If an attorney dies, divorces the donor, or becomes unable to act — and no replacement attorney was named — you may need to create a new LPA from scratch, incurring the full cost again.
Court of Protection deputyship (if you don't act in time). If someone loses mental capacity without an LPA in place, the family must apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order. Court fees alone start at £1,000+, legal advice typically costs another £1,500–£3,000, and the process takes months. An LPA that costs £200–£400 now avoids a £2,500–£5,000 crisis later.

Do You Need Both Types of LPA?

Yes, in almost every case.

Health decisions and financial decisions are separate domains. Dementia — the most common reason LPAs are needed — affects both simultaneously. If your spouse is in hospital and has lost capacity, you need the Health & Welfare LPA to talk to doctors and the Property & Financial Affairs LPA to pay the care home fees and keep the bills running. Without both, you're managing one half of the crisis legally while the other half stalls.

Many LPA services — including ClearWill — offer bundled pricing for both documents, which makes it more cost-effective to set up both at the same time than to do them separately.

Setting up both LPAs while you still have full mental capacity also means you can complete the forms independently, choose your attorneys thoughtfully, and take time to get the certificate provider requirement right. If capacity becomes an issue before you've registered, the options become significantly more expensive and complex.

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LPA vs Will — Do You Need Both?

Yes. They cover different things at different times.

A will controls what happens to your assets after you die. It has no effect while you're alive.
An LPA controls who can make decisions on your behalf if you lose mental capacity — while you're still alive. It has no effect after death.

They are complementary documents for the same fundamental concern: making sure the people you trust are authorised to act when you can't. Having one without the other leaves a gap. An LPA with no will means your family faces probate and intestacy rules after death. A will with no LPA means your family faces the Court of Protection if you lose capacity before death.

Most people are surprised that creating both — a will and two LPAs — costs less than one hour with a solicitor would have done a generation ago. Online services have fundamentally changed the economics of personal legal planning.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Lasting Power of Attorney cost in the UK in 2026?

A minimum of £82 per LPA (the OPG registration fee), regardless of how you create it. Add a service fee on top: online services charge £100–£300 per LPA, solicitors charge £500–£1,500+ per LPA. Most people need both types, so the OPG fee alone is £164. Total typical range: £264–£3,164+ for both LPAs combined.

What is the OPG registration fee?

£82 per LPA in England and Wales, paid to the Office of the Public Guardian when you register. Full exemption if income is under £12,000; 50% reduction (£41) if income is £12,000–£18,000. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate fees through different bodies.

Can I do an LPA myself for free?

You can create the document for free via gov.uk — but the £82 OPG registration fee still applies. The main risk is rejection: around 10–15% of DIY applications are rejected due to form errors, costing you the fee without a registered LPA to show for it. Guided services significantly reduce this risk.

Do I need a solicitor for an LPA?

Not for a straightforward LPA. A solicitor is worth the premium for complex situations: disputed families, overseas assets, detailed medical restrictions, or capacity concerns. For most people, an online LPA service is legally equivalent for a fraction of the cost.

How long does LPA registration take?

The OPG currently takes 8–20 weeks to register an LPA after receiving the completed forms and payment. You can track the status online. There's no way to expedite government processing — so the sooner you apply, the better. A registered LPA cannot be used until the registration process is complete.

What happens if I don't have an LPA and lose mental capacity?

Your family must apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order — a court-supervised arrangement that takes months to obtain and costs £1,000+ in court fees alone, plus typically £1,500–£3,000 in legal fees. The deputy must file annual reports with the OPG for as long as they act. An LPA set up now avoids all of this.