If you have an ageing parent or relative in Kent, there is one piece of paperwork we wish every family had in place long before they think they need it: a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare. It is not glamorous, it is not urgent in the way a hospital visit is urgent, and it is the kind of thing that sits at the bottom of the "we should sort that out" pile for years. Then a fall, a diagnosis, or a sudden change happens, and suddenly it matters more than anything else.

We can't give legal advice. What we can do is tell you, after years of supporting Kent families through every kind of care decision, why we so often wish a Health and Welfare LPA had already been arranged. This guide explains what it is, how it differs from the financial one, what it actually covers, what it costs in 2026, and how to put one in place without dread.

What an LPA Actually Is

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets one or more people you trust make decisions on your behalf if you can no longer make them yourself. The person making the LPA is called the donor. The people they choose to act for them are the attorneys. The whole point is that you decide, while you are well and capable, who will speak for you if illness or injury one day means you can't.

It is worth knowing that an LPA replaced the older "Enduring Power of Attorney" back in 2007. Some families still have those older documents, and they can still be valid for finances, but they don't cover health and welfare matters. So if your parent has paperwork from the 1990s, do check what it actually says.

The Two Types: Why It Matters

There are two separate LPAs in England and Wales, and many families assume they have one when they really need both.

Property and Financial Affairs LPA

This covers money, bills, the house, pensions, tax, and bank accounts. Helpfully, it can be used while the donor still has capacity, with their permission, which makes it useful for couples where one person has become physically frail but still wants help managing the post.

Health and Welfare LPA

This is the one this guide is really about. It only takes effect after the donor has lost the mental capacity to make their own decisions. Until that point, it sits in a drawer doing nothing. That is exactly the way it is meant to work.

The two documents are completely separate. You register them separately, you pay for them separately, and you can choose different attorneys for each. Many families pick a money-savvy relative for the financial LPA and someone with caring instincts for the health and welfare side.

What a Health and Welfare LPA Covers

Once it is in force, a Health and Welfare LPA gives the attorney authority to make decisions about:

• Medical treatment, including consenting to or refusing specific treatments
• Where the person lives, including a move into residential care if it becomes necessary
• Day-to-day care: diet, dressing, daily routine, social activities
• Who they have contact with
• Life-sustaining treatment, but only if the donor specifically ticks the option on the form to give the attorney that authority

That last one is important. Life-sustaining treatment is a separate box on the form, and the donor chooses whether the attorney can make those decisions or whether they prefer a doctor to decide. Neither answer is wrong, but it is a conversation worth having before the form is signed, not after.

Why "I'd Rather Not Think About It" Is the Costly Answer

Without a Health and Welfare LPA, if a person loses capacity, the family has no automatic legal right to make care decisions for them. Not even a spouse. Not even an adult child. The family must apply to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order, and that process is slow, expensive, and intrusive in a way that paperwork done in advance simply isn't. We have watched families wait months for decisions that would have taken a phone call if the LPA had already been registered.

The other thing that surprises families: an LPA cannot be set up after capacity is lost. The day after a dementia diagnosis is often too late, because by definition the donor must understand what they are signing. So the right time to arrange one is when nobody yet thinks they need to.

Choosing Attorneys

You can appoint one attorney or several. If you appoint more than one, you decide whether they must act:

• Jointly: every decision must be agreed by all of them. Safer, but slower.
• Jointly and severally: any attorney can act alone. Faster and more practical day-to-day, particularly for care decisions.
• Jointly for some decisions, severally for others: a middle path used in more complex families.

Pick people who know the donor well, who will be available, and who will get on with each other under stress. Stress is the thing the form doesn't ask about, but every family lives with it.

The Process and the Cost

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) registers LPAs in England and Wales. The current registration fee is £82 per LPA (so £164 if you do both, which most people do). Reductions and exemptions are available for people on a low income or certain benefits.

You can apply online at gov.uk/power-of-attorney or on paper. You will need:

• The donor and attorneys to sign in the right order
• Witnesses for the signatures
• A certificate provider: an independent person who confirms the donor understands what they are signing and isn't being pressured. This can be someone who has known the donor for two years, or a professional like a GP or solicitor.
• Registration with the OPG

The OPG registration takes several weeks once submitted, sometimes longer at busy times. Citizens Advice and Age UK both offer free guidance, and a solicitor will draft and lodge it for a fixed fee if the family prefers professional help.

Why This Matters for Home Care

When we plan care for someone in Kent, an LPA changes everything. With one in place, our team knows who can authorise a hospital admission at three in the morning, who can talk to the GP, who can update the care plan when needs change. Without one, even simple things become difficult, and we end up waiting on calls between siblings while a person sits in discomfort.

Families who have arranged an LPA early describe a feeling we recognise: relief. The conversation has been had. The paperwork has been signed. Now they can get on with the parts of caring that actually matter, like turning up with the right biscuits.

Conclusion

A Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare is not a document about losing control. It is a document about keeping it. By choosing your attorneys while you are well, you decide who speaks for you, on what terms, and within what limits. It is one of the most genuinely loving things a family can do for each other, and it costs less than a weekend away.

If you are starting to think about care for a parent or partner in Kent, please do consider an LPA as part of the bigger plan. We can't draft one for you, and we will always point you towards Citizens Advice or a solicitor for the legal side. But we can absolutely help you think through what good care looks like, who needs to know what, and how to make decisions easier when the time comes. That part is what we are here for.