# Lasting power of attorney for health and welfare (England and Wales)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/lasting-power-of-attorney-health-welfare/  
OnCo record `lasting-power-of-attorney-health-welfare` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A health and welfare lasting power of attorney lets you choose someone you trust to make decisions about your care, including life-sustaining treatment, if you become unable to decide. It has to be registered before it can be used, which takes weeks, so it is worth doing early.

## Summary

GOV.UK describes two types of lasting power of attorney: health and welfare, and property and financial affairs. A health and welfare LPA gives an attorney power to make decisions about daily routine, medical care, moving into a care home and life-sustaining treatment, and can only be used when the person is unable to make their own decisions. The person must be 18 or over and have mental capacity when making it.

An LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before use. GOV.UK states that registration takes 8 to 10 weeks if there are no mistakes and that applying costs £92 unless a reduction or exemption applies.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: health and welfare LPA; lasting power of attorney; LPA
- Tags: supportive; uk; carer

## Sources

- GOV.UK: make, register or end a lasting power of attorney: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

## Connected records

- terms: [Advance care planning](https://onco.cc/terms/advance-care-planning/), [Advance decision to refuse treatment (England and Wales)](https://onco.cc/terms/advance-decision-to-refuse-treatment/)

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