Most people assume that if they became too ill to look after their own affairs, their husband, wife or children could step in. Without a Lasting Power of Attorney, they can’t.
Being next of kin gives no legal right to run someone else’s bank account, sell their home or decide on their care. Someone has to apply to the Court of Protection instead.
What stops working
Once a bank knows you can no longer manage your money, it will freeze any account in your sole name. Bills, care fees and direct debits can’t be paid from it until someone has legal authority.
A house in your name alone can’t be sold or remortgaged, even if the money is needed for your care. Joint accounts can often carry on, but the bank doesn’t have to allow it.
The Court of Protection route
The Court of Protection makes decisions for people who have lost mental capacity and have no LPA. It can appoint a deputy to look after their money and property.
Whoever applies, usually a close relative, has to give details of their own finances, their relationship to you and medical evidence that you can no longer decide for yourself. Other relatives are told about the application and can object.
How long it takes
Months, not weeks. A straightforward application often takes several months to be decided, and longer if anyone objects or the court wants a hearing. Until then, your family has no authority to act.
The court decides who acts
With an LPA, you choose your attorneys yourself. With deputyship, the court chooses. It will usually appoint a family member, but it doesn’t have to.
If the family can’t agree, or nobody suitable comes forward, the court can appoint a professional deputy instead, often a solicitor. Their fees are paid from your money.
What it costs
There is a court fee to apply and another when the deputy is appointed. After that, most deputies pay an annual supervision fee of £320 and take out an insurance bond that has to be renewed every year. They also send the Office of the Public Guardian a report each year showing how they have handled your money.
With professional help on the application, the first year often costs a few thousand pounds, and the yearly costs carry on for as long as the deputyship lasts. Registering an LPA costs £92.
Health and care decisions
Deputies are rarely given power over health and care. Without a health and welfare LPA, decisions about your treatment and where you live are made by doctors and social workers, in what they judge to be your best interests. They will usually talk to your family, but the final say is theirs.
An example
Take a retired couple in Caversham. Their home is in joint names, but most of their savings are in his name alone. He has a stroke and can no longer manage his affairs.
She can still use their joint account but his savings are frozen. To reach them she has to apply to become his deputy, wait months for a decision, then report to the Office of the Public Guardian every year. If he had made an LPA, she could have used it as soon as it was needed.
Making an LPA
An LPA can only be made while you still have capacity. Once that has gone, deputyship is the only route.
We prepare LPAs face to face in Caversham, alongside a Will or on their own. Find out more about setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Fees are correct as at October 2026.
