How Much Does a Lasting Power of Attorney Cost?

Written by James Tyrrell · Reviewed by Anthony Dalton · Last reviewed 16 March 2026

Ask three different people what an LPA costs and you will get three very different answers — anywhere from £92 to over £1,500. The reason is simple: only one part of the bill is fixed. Every Lasting Power of Attorney has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) for £92, and everything beyond that depends on who prepares the paperwork. This guide breaks down every cost involved in 2026 so you can see exactly where your money goes. If you are still working out the process itself, our guide on how to make an LPA in the UK walks you through it step by step.

Government Registration Fee

Regardless of how you create your LPA, the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) charges a mandatory registration fee of £92 per LPA. This fee is paid directly to the OPG when you submit your signed documents.

If you create both types of LPA (Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare), the total government fee is £184.

Cost Comparison: Your Options

Cost of Making Both Types of LPA

There are two types of Lasting Power of Attorney — a Property & Financial Affairs LPA and a Health & Welfare LPA. They are separate legal documents and each carries its own £92 registration fee. Most people in England and Wales choose to create both, since the financial and the medical sides of life so rarely come up for the same kind of decision.

Take Sarah from Leeds, who recently created both LPAs through our service after her father’s stroke made the consequences of going without painfully clear. Her total bill came to £333: £149 for full document preparation, error checking and signing instructions, plus the £184 she paid the OPG for the two registrations. Through a high-street solicitor the same job would have cost her between £684 and £1,684 once the registration fees were added on top.

LPA Cost Breakdown: Where Your Money Goes

The cost of a Lasting Power of Attorney comes in two parts — the bit you pay the government and the bit you pay whoever helps you put the document together. Knowing what each part covers makes it much easier to spot when you are paying a fair price and when you are not.

• Government registration fee (£92 per LPA) — this is paid to the Office of the Public Guardian and covers the legal registration of your document. It is the same regardless of whether you use a solicitor, an online service, or do it yourself
• Preparation/service fee — this is what you pay for help creating the document. A solicitor charges for their time and legal expertise. An online service like UKLPA charges a lower fee for guided document preparation, error checking, and signing instructions
• Certificate provider — if you ask a professional (such as a GP or solicitor) to act as your certificate provider, they may charge a fee, typically £50–£150. If a friend or colleague acts as your certificate provider, there is no cost
• Postage — you need to post the signed LPA to the OPG for registration. Recorded delivery is recommended, costing around £3–£5

Can You Get a Fee Reduction or Exemption on LPA Costs?

Yes. The OPG offers fee reductions and exemptions for people on low incomes or certain benefits. You may qualify for:

• 50% reduction (pay £46) — if your gross annual income is below £12,000
• Full exemption (pay nothing) — if you receive a qualifying means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit, Income Support, Income-based JSA, or Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)

You apply for the reduction at the time of registration by completing the relevant section of the application form and providing evidence. Our detailed guide on LPA fee reductions and exemptions explains the full eligibility criteria and how to apply.

Solicitor Fees for an LPA in 2026

Solicitors typically charge between £300 and £1,000 per LPA, with London and the South East at the top end and high-street firms in smaller towns somewhere closer to the middle. Many offer a small discount when you create both LPAs together. Our guide on why solicitors charge £500+ for an LPA takes apart a typical bill so you can see what is actually being billed for.

Where a solicitor genuinely earns their fee is in unusual situations — you own a business, you have property abroad, you are in a second marriage with adult children from your first, or you are worried that a family member might later challenge the LPA. For everyday cases, most people simply do not need that level of input. Our guide on whether you need a solicitor for an LPA walks through who genuinely benefits and who is paying for reassurance they did not need.

Worth knowing: a solicitor’s fee only covers preparing the document. The £92 government registration fee is always paid on top, no matter who drafts your paperwork.

Online LPA Services: A Middle Ground

Online LPA preparation services sit between the solicitor route and going it alone. You answer plain-English questions on a guided form, your answers are turned into properly drafted LPA documents, the paperwork is checked for the kinds of mistakes the OPG sends back most often, and you receive clear instructions for the signing stage. It is the same end document a solicitor would produce, prepared in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.

Our service costs £89 for a single LPA or £149 for both. That includes full document preparation, a dedicated client portal where you can track progress, step-by-step signing instructions, and our mistake prevention guarantee — if the OPG ever rejects a document we prepared because of an error on our side, we fix it and resubmit at no charge.

DIY LPA Cost: Using the Government's Free Tool

The government runs a free online tool that walks you through creating an LPA yourself. On paper it costs nothing beyond the £92 registration fee, which makes it the cheapest route by some distance. The trade-off is that nobody is checking your work. There is no error review, no support line if you get stuck on a question about attorneys or instructions, and no second pair of eyes before you post off your signed document.

What catches people out is the cost of getting it wrong. If the OPG rejects your LPA for one of the common errors — a missing signature, the wrong signing order, an ineligible witness — the £92 registration fee is not refunded. You start again and pay again. Our guide on whether LPA fees are refundable explains exactly when you can and cannot get your money back.

Total Cost Examples

Hidden Costs and Extra Charges to Watch For

The headline LPA cost is straightforward, but a few extra charges can catch people out:

• Rejected LPA — if the OPG rejects your application due to errors, the £92 fee is not refunded. You must fix the problem, resubmit, and pay again. This is one of the strongest arguments for using a professional service that checks your documents before submission
• Certificate provider fees — if your GP or solicitor acts as certificate provider, they may charge £50–£150. A friend or colleague who has known you for at least two years can do it for free
• Certified copies — banks and other institutions may ask to see a certified copy of your LPA rather than the original. The OPG charges £17 per certified copy
• Replacement copies — if you lose your LPA documents, the OPG charges £17 for an office copy

How to Save Money on Your LPA

Most people pay more for their LPA than they need to — usually because they hire a solicitor by default, miss a fee reduction they qualified for, or skip a small step that ends up costing them the £92 registration fee twice. A few simple decisions can knock hundreds of pounds off the bill:

• Create both LPAs together — most services (including UKLPA) offer a discount when you create both types at the same time
• Use a friend as certificate provider — instead of paying a GP or solicitor, choose someone who has known you personally for at least two years
• Check if you qualify for a fee reduction — if your income is below £12,000 or you receive qualifying benefits, the registration fee could be halved or waived entirely
• Get it right first time — avoiding mistakes saves you from paying the registration fee twice. A professional preparation service typically costs far less than a second registration
• Couples: create LPAs at the same time — married couples and partners often create mirror LPAs together, which is more efficient and may qualify for bundle pricing

LPA Cost vs Court of Protection Deputyship Cost

If you do not have an LPA and lose mental capacity, your family must apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order. The costs are dramatically higher:

• Court application fee: £371
• Capacity assessment (COP3): £100–£300
• Solicitor fees: £1,000–£3,000+
• Security bond: annual premium based on estate value
• OPG supervision fee: £320 per year, every year

Over five years, a deputyship can easily cost £3,000–£5,000 or more. An LPA costs £92 to register and has no ongoing fees. The financial case for creating an LPA in advance is overwhelming. Our guide on how an LPA is cheaper than the Court of Protection has the full side-by-side comparison.

More Guides on LPA Costs

LPA Costs: Questions We Hear Most

This guide was last reviewed and updated on 16 March 2026. Information is based on current legislation and OPG guidance for England and Wales.

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