Can You Monitor an Attorney's Actions Under an LPA?
The OPG does not watch over your attorney by default. Here is how to build real oversight into your LPA before you need it.
Written by James Tyrrell · Reviewed by Anthony Dalton · Last reviewed
There is no automatic system that monitors what an attorney does with a lasting power of attorney. The Office of the Public Guardian registers LPAs but does not routinely check how attorneys use them. That means oversight largely falls to you as the donor — through the safeguards you build into your LPA — and to family members, banks, and care providers who interact with the attorney after the LPA is in use.
At a glance
- The OPG does not routinely monitor attorneys — it only investigates when a concern is raised
- Donors can build oversight into their LPA by naming people to notify, appointing joint attorneys, and adding preferences about record-sharing
- Banks and financial institutions may flag suspicious transactions independently
- Family members can raise concerns with the OPG, which has powers to investigate and refer cases to the Court of Protection
- This guide applies to LPAs made under the law of England and Wales
Why the OPG Does Not Monitor Attorneys
This surprises many people. The OPG’s role is to register LPAs and investigate concerns — not to proactively supervise every attorney in England and Wales. With over 6 million registered LPAs, routine monitoring simply is not feasible. The system relies on a combination of the donor’s own safeguards, the attorney’s legal duties, and the vigilance of third parties.
This is fundamentally different from deputyship, where the Court of Protection appoints a deputy and the OPG does supervise them — requiring annual reports and sometimes sending visitors to check on the arrangement. If you want that level of oversight built in by default, you would need a deputyship order, not an LPA. But deputyship costs significantly more and removes your ability to choose who acts for you. For most people, an LPA with sensible safeguards is the better option.
Safeguards You Can Build Into Your LPA
The good news is that you can create meaningful oversight when you set up your LPA. These are practical steps that make it harder for an attorney to act without scrutiny.
Name people to notify
When you create your LPA, you can name up to five “people to notify”. These individuals are contacted by the OPG when the LPA is registered, giving them a chance to raise objections before the attorney gains any power. While this only provides a check at the registration stage, it establishes a group of people who know the LPA exists and who the attorney is — people who can ask questions later if something seems wrong.
Appoint joint attorneys for major decisions
Appointing attorneys to act jointly for certain decisions is one of the strongest oversight mechanisms available. If you appoint two attorneys to act jointly, both must agree before any decision is made. This prevents one person acting alone and means each attorney effectively monitors the other. You can also appoint attorneys jointly and severally for day-to-day matters but require joint agreement for large transactions — for example, anything over £5,000 or any property sale.
Add preferences about sharing records
Your LPA includes a section for preferences — things you would like your attorney to do but which are not legally binding instructions. You can use this section to ask your attorney to provide quarterly or annual financial summaries to a named family member. While an attorney is not legally compelled to follow a preference, the OPG expects attorneys to give serious weight to the donor’s stated wishes, and ignoring a reasonable preference could raise questions if a complaint is ever made.
Key point: You can also add a binding instruction — for example, requiring that your attorney obtains independent financial advice before selling any property. Instructions are legally enforceable and give you stronger control, but they must be worded carefully. See our guide on adding preferences and instructions to your LPA.
How Banks and Institutions Provide Oversight
Banks, building societies, and investment providers have their own fraud and safeguarding teams. When an attorney registers an LPA with a financial institution, the bank will typically apply additional scrutiny to the account. Unusual transactions — large withdrawals, transfers to the attorney’s own account, or patterns that do not match the donor’s normal spending — may trigger internal reviews.
Some banks will contact the attorney directly to query transactions. In more serious cases, banks can file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and may freeze the account while they investigate. This is not a perfect safeguard — banks are looking for fraud, not poor decision-making — but it provides an independent layer of monitoring that exists outside the family.
Care providers and solicitors involved in the donor’s affairs may also raise concerns if they believe an attorney is not acting in the donor’s best interests. Healthcare professionals have safeguarding obligations and can report directly to the OPG.
Can Family Members Request Financial Information?
This is where things get complicated. An attorney has a legal duty to act in the donor’s best interests and to keep proper records, but there is no automatic right for family members to demand access to those records. The attorney’s duty of accountability runs to the donor and to the OPG — not directly to siblings, children, or other relatives.
In practice, a reasonable attorney who has nothing to hide will usually share information voluntarily. If your mother appointed your brother as attorney and you ask him for a summary of how her finances are being managed, most people in that situation would provide one. Transparency tends to prevent disputes.
That said, an attorney is not obliged to share detailed financial information with every family member who asks. If the donor included a preference in the LPA requesting that records be shared with specific people, the attorney should follow that preference. Without such a preference, the attorney must use their judgement — always keeping the donor’s interests and privacy in mind.
What to Do If an Attorney Refuses to Share Records
An attorney who flatly refuses to share any information about how they are managing the donor’s affairs is a warning sign. While they may have legitimate reasons — perhaps the donor asked for their finances to remain private — a complete refusal to account for their actions should raise concern.
If you have genuine concerns, you can take the following steps:
Put your request in writing
Write to the attorney explaining your concerns and asking for specific information. Keep the tone reasonable and factual. This creates a record of your attempt to resolve matters informally.
Raise a concern with the OPG
Anyone can report a concern about an attorney to the OPG. You do not need proof of wrongdoing — a genuine concern is enough. The OPG has legal powers to require the attorney to produce records and can investigate further if needed.
Apply to the Court of Protection
In serious cases, family members can apply to the Court of Protection for an order requiring the attorney to produce accounts. The court can also remove an attorney if it finds they have breached their duties.
The Role of Court of Protection Visitors
The OPG can send a Court of Protection visitor to check on an attorney’s conduct. Visitors are independent professionals — usually social workers or medical practitioners — who can visit the donor and the attorney, review records, and report back to the OPG. This is one of the OPG’s most direct monitoring tools, but it is only used where a concern has been raised or where the OPG has reason to believe something may be wrong.
Visitors can speak to the donor privately, assess whether the attorney is fulfilling their duties, and check whether the donor’s wishes are being respected. If a visitor identifies problems, the OPG can take further action — up to and including referring the case to the Court of Protection for a review. You can learn more about the OPG’s investigative powers in our guide on whether the OPG can investigate an attorney.
Monitoring a Financial LPA vs a Health LPA
Oversight works very differently depending on the type of LPA involved.
A property and financial affairs LPA creates a natural paper trail. Bank statements, receipts, investment reports, and transaction records all provide evidence of how the attorney is managing the donor’s money. This makes it relatively straightforward to spot problems — unexplained withdrawals, money moving to the attorney’s account, or a pattern of declining assets without clear explanation. Our guide on record-keeping for attorneys covers what records should be maintained.
Financial LPA
Creates a clear paper trail through bank statements, receipts, and transaction records. Oversight is more straightforward and problems are easier to detect through financial records.
Health & Welfare LPA
Involves care and medical decisions that leave less of a paper trail. Monitoring relies on staying involved in care conversations, attending meetings, and maintaining contact with care providers.
For a health and welfare LPA, monitoring is harder. Care decisions — which care home to choose, whether to agree to a medical procedure, or what daily support the donor receives — do not generate the same kind of records. Family members who want to monitor a health LPA should stay actively involved in the donor’s care: attend care reviews, maintain regular contact with care staff, and ensure the attorney is consulting them where appropriate.
Practical Tips for Donors Setting Up Oversight
If you are creating your LPA now, here are concrete steps to build in monitoring from the start:
- Name people to notify — choose trusted individuals who can raise an objection at registration if needed
- Add a preference for regular reporting — ask your attorney to share a financial summary with a named person every six or twelve months
- Consider joint attorneys for large decisions — require both attorneys to agree on transactions above a certain value or on property sales
- Appoint a replacement attorney — if your primary attorney is removed for misconduct, a replacement attorney can step in without needing a court order
- Talk to your attorney openly — make your expectations about transparency and record-keeping clear before the LPA is registered, not after
Worth knowing: you can also ask your attorney to keep the donor’s money in a separate bank account. This is already considered best practice and is recommended by the OPG. It creates a clean audit trail and makes it much easier for anyone reviewing the finances to see exactly where the donor’s money has gone. Our guide on how attorneys should manage finances covers this in detail.
Key point: The time to think about monitoring is when you create your LPA — not after something goes wrong. Once you have lost mental capacity, you cannot add new safeguards.
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Key Takeaways
- No automatic monitoring — the OPG does not proactively supervise attorneys; it only investigates when a concern is raised by a third party
- Build safeguards in early — name people to notify, add record-sharing preferences, and consider joint attorneys for significant decisions while you still have capacity
- Financial LPAs are easier to monitor — bank statements and receipts create a paper trail, while health LPA oversight relies on staying involved in care conversations
- Attorneys must keep records — the OPG can request records at any time, and an attorney who cannot account for their decisions is in a weak position
- Anyone can raise a concern — family members, care workers, and banks can all report worries to the OPG, which has legal powers to investigate and refer cases to the Court of Protection
Common Questions About Monitoring Attorney Actions
Does the OPG check what attorneys are doing?
No. The Office of the Public Guardian does not routinely monitor attorneys acting under a lasting power of attorney. It only investigates if a concern is raised by a family member, a professional, or a third party such as a bank. This is why building your own safeguards into the LPA is so important.
Can I require my attorney to share financial records with a family member?
Yes. You can include a preference in your LPA asking your attorney to provide regular financial summaries to a named person, such as a sibling or adult child. While preferences are not legally binding, most attorneys will follow them and the OPG expects them to give weight to the donor’s stated wishes.
What can I do if an attorney refuses to share records?
If an attorney refuses to share financial records when a reasonable request is made, this may be a sign of a problem. You can raise a concern with the OPG, which has the power to investigate and request records directly. In serious cases, the OPG can refer the matter to the Court of Protection, which can remove the attorney.
Is monitoring a financial LPA different from monitoring a health LPA?
Yes. A property and financial affairs LPA creates a clear paper trail through bank statements, receipts, and transaction records, making oversight more straightforward. A health and welfare LPA involves care and medical decisions that are harder to track in the same way. Monitoring a health LPA relies more on staying involved in care conversations and maintaining contact with care providers.
This guide was last reviewed and updated on . Information is based on current legislation and OPG guidance for England and Wales.
Official Guidance
Further reading from GOV.UK
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