How long does it take to do a Lasting Power of Attorney?

Your LPA has to go through a number of stages in order to be valid:

1. If you have sought our advice, we would first take your instructions and provide you with full individualised advice. We would then draft your LPA(s) for you to review, before inviting you back in to our office to sign the LPA(s). This part of the process usually takes 2-4 weeks.
2. Your LPA has to be signed by you, in the presence of a witness.
3. Your ‘certificate provider’ must sign their section to confirm you are making the LPA free from pressure and that you have capacity to make financial and/or health decisions. Where we have advised on your LPAs and drafted the documents, we can usually act as your certificate provider.
4. Your Attorneys then each need to sign their declaration sections, in the presence of a witness. This part of the process can take 2-6 weeks, depending on the number of Attorneys, and whether they can sign their declarations together of whether the LPAs need to be sent to them.
5. Your LPA then needs to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) before it can be used by your Attorneys. The registration process involves a statutory notice period of 4 weeks from the date that the OPG receive your LPA. Generally, LPA registration is currently taking approximately 12 weeks.