Why do we all need a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)? 

I’ve been on an emotional journey. The past year has been a challenge health-wise. Doctors told me I’d need to start taking statins if I didn’t reduce my cholesterol and my hormones were out of balance with severe perimenopause symptoms. Add to this that both my parents and siblings have all had heart attacks in their late 50s/early 60s.

I had to take action, in two ways, firstly, to sort out my health, and secondly, to ensure everything death/illness admin is in place should anything happen to me.

If you follow Mrs Mummypenny, you will be very aware of my health journey progress. I am SO happy to share that I have stabilised my hormones with a higher dose of HRT, the insomnia, anxiety, hair loss, and bruising, to name a few symptoms, have all improved. And weight loss combined with HRT has reduced my cholesterol. I ended 2025 with a healthy Lynn, no statins required!

Over to the Legal Admin – The Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

Most of us are aware of wills and how important they are to state our wishes in death, although many of us don’t have a will in place (I do!), another subject for another day. But what about the LPA? A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document in place whilst you are alive. There are two types of LPA, firstly finance and property, and secondly health and welfare. They are needed to help with decisions if you lose mental capacity. This could be from a degenerative disease (including illnesses of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, plus diseases of the body, including muscular, heart, and cancer) or from an accident, such as a brain injury or coma.

Having this legal agreement in place means you have named and trusted people (attorney/s) to make two types of decisions while you are unable to. There are two types of LPA, firstly finance and property, and secondly health and welfare.

Finance and Property decisions will be things like mortgage, rent and bill payments, savings access. Any company/bank/care home will ask for the LPA, which will need to be in place to authorise decision-making. Likewise, with health and welfare, it’s more medical decisions that the attorney/s will be making. 

I have to admit to putting this process off, even after meeting with Matt, the founder of Power of Attorney Online, a few months ago, and explaining his story and the process so succinctly. It raises emotions when talking about these difficult subjects, and avoidance. We’re talking about serious illness or loss of capacity, which is uncomfortable to think about. Many of us don’t want to acknowledge this, so we choose to avoid it.

This feels like a very important legal document to have in place. It’s often something that people only think about, maybe when relatives fall into ill health with a degenerative disease.

Matt’s dad died recently of dementia, and an LPA was in place, which proved incredibly valuable throughout his care as his health deteriorated. However, the process of setting it up via a local solicitor was slow, expensive and prone to errors, adding stress at an already difficult time. Seeing both how essential the LPA was in practice, and how broken the process was, what motivated Matt to build Power of Attorney Online as a better, more accessible alternative.

I no longer avoid; I have set up my LPA.

The whole process took me just 15 minutes and cost £198, using the online service from Power of Attorney Online. I was pre-prepared with information on my choice of three attorneys, and have all their full names, date of birth, address, and email address.

I have chosen my eldest son, who has just turned 18, plus two close friends who are both very financially astute, level-headed, and trusted, and have dealt with estates/complex financial situations before. Three people feel right for me, but you choose however many you would like. They can consult each other, but can act independently if needed.  

The process of completing the LPA was very simple and explained well. Whenever you need to make a choice, each choice is explained with reasoning for each decision, for example, ticking the box to use an LPA immediately or once mental capacity has been lost. Many people choose to allow the LPA to be used immediately, which can make things simpler if support is needed later.

The forms were completed, and I made a payment of £198 for both documents to be prepared. Once these are ready, a further £92 per LPA needs to be paid to the office of the public guardian upon submission. It generally costs £500-1000 for a solicitor to prepare each LPA. Power of Attorney Online offers a much more affordable route while still including expert checks and oversight of the application. They will check your submissions and send final documentation to you to be signed and witnessed. Around 850,000 LPAs are submitted each year, with tens of thousands rejected due to errors, so it’s worth having a professional company prepare for you. You can, of course, fill in all the forms yourself on the government website, but be ready to be bamboozled with a government system that’s really not customer experience-friendly.

Let’s start 2026 strong with a huge life admin task done. Get your LPA in place, and/or speak to your parents or relatives to ensure they have an LPA in place. No doubt it’s a hard conversation, but it makes everything so much simpler in the long run. The biggest gift we can give in illness and later life is clear instructions and permissions.

Head over to Power of Attorney Online for a special offer just for Mrs Mummypenny readers, use the code Mummypenny20 to save 20% off the £198 service fee.