Author and Publication
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Citation
GOV.UK, Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney
Copywright
Copyright © 2026 Nellie Supports Ltd. All rights reserved.
This article is made available for general information, education and professional reference. It may be downloaded, printed and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided that it is reproduced in full, is not altered in any way, and is properly cited as the work of Nellie Supports Ltd. This material must not be edited, adapted, sold, republished, incorporated into commercial products, or used for commercial training, assessment, report-writing or advisory services without prior written permission from Nellie Supports Ltd.
This article does not constitute legal advice, clinical advice or a substitute for a decision-specific professional assessment. Where legislation, government guidance, court forms or external professional materials are referred to, those materials remain subject to their own copyright, licensing and re-use terms.
Abstract
This guide explains what information must someone understand to make an LPA for Mental Capacity Assessment to Grant Lasting Power of Attorney in England and Wales. It gives a decision-specific overview of relevant information, evidence, risk factors, report quality and when a formal assessment may be needed.
What information must someone understand to make an LPA?
To make a valid Lasting Power of Attorney, the donor must be able to understand, retain, use and weigh a specific and limited set of information: the nature of an LPA and the authority it hands to the attorneys; who the attorneys will be; the scope of decisions covered by the particular LPA, whether property and financial affairs or health and welfare; when the attorneys will be able to act, including any conditions; that the LPA can be revoked while the donor retains capacity; and the foreseeable risks, including the possibility of an attorney misusing the power. The donor does not need to be able to manage their own affairs to grant an LPA; arranging for someone trusted to help is itself the point. This guide works through each element in plain English.
Relevant information must be defined before assessment
Relevant information is the information the person needs to understand, retain, use or weigh for this decision. For mental Capacity Assessment to Grant Lasting Power of Attorney, this usually includes the nature of the LPA, who the attorneys are, what powers they may have, when those powers can be used, the consequences of appointing or removing attorneys, and the safeguards available. Defining that information at the outset avoids vague, unfair or overbroad assessments.
The nature and purpose of the instrument
The donor must understand what a lasting power of attorney is: a legal document by which they choose who will make decisions on their behalf, either about property and financial affairs or about health and welfare. They should grasp that it is their own choice to make it, that it is designed to endure into any future loss of capacity and that without it, decisions would fall to be made through other routes, most likely a deputyship application to the Court of Protection.
The scope of the authority being given
The donor should understand, in broad terms, what the attorneys will be able to do: for a property and affairs instrument, managing bank accounts, paying bills, dealing with property and, subject to its terms, selling the home; for a health and welfare instrument, decisions about care, treatment and, only where expressly authorised, life-sustaining treatment. They should also understand any restrictions or preferences they are including, since an instruction the donor cannot explain is an instruction the donor has not understood.
When each instrument can be used
A frequent misunderstanding, and therefore a core piece of relevant information, is timing: a property and financial affairs LPA can, if the donor permits, be used whilst the donor still has capacity and under their direction, whereas a health and welfare LPA operates only once the donor lacks capacity for the decision in question. The donor should be able to explain this difference in their own words, because it defines what they are actually agreeing to live with.
Who the attorneys are and how they will act
The donor should know who they are appointing and be able to say why, understand whether multiple attorneys must act together or can act separately and what that choice means in practice, and grasp who would step in if an attorney could not act, including any replacement attorneys named. The reasons need not be elaborate, but a donor who cannot connect the names on the form to people and reasons of their own raises exactly the doubt an assessment exists to resolve.
Revocation and the donor's continuing control
The donor should understand that whilst they retain capacity they remain in control: they can revoke the instrument, and making it does not surrender their present decision-making. This element matters both as information and as reassurance, because donors under pressure sometimes believe the document is irreversible from signature, and a donor who understands revocation is a donor who can meaningfully be said to have chosen to proceed.
The risks: misuse and the limits of oversight
Finally, the donor should appreciate the central risk: that the attorneys could misuse the authority, and that oversight of attorneys, whilst it exists, is not constant supervision. This is the element most often softened in family conversations and most examined in later disputes, and the donor's engagement with it, their own account of why they trust these people with this power, is amongst the strongest evidence a contemporaneous assessment can preserve.
How this information is put and tested
The information should be offered in plain language, one element at a time, away from the proposed attorneys, and tested through the donor's own explanations rather than assent: what is this document, what will your attorneys be able to do, when could they act, could you cancel it, what could go wrong. Revisiting elements later in the visit tests retention, and the donor's verbatim answers, recorded contemporaneously, are what protect the instrument if it is ever challenged.
Key takeaway
The information a donor must understand to make an LPA is the instrument itself in working form: what it is, what authority it gives, when it operates, who will hold it and why, that it can be revoked and that it could be misused. Put each element plainly, test it in the donor's own words and record the answers, because those answers are the instrument's protection for as long as it exists.
Frequently asked questions
Does a diagnosis automatically mean someone lacks capacity?
No. A diagnosis may explain why capacity is in doubt, but it does not answer the legal question. The assessment must still consider the specific decision, the relevant information, the support provided and whether the person can understand, retain, use or weigh that information and communicate a decision.
What evidence is useful for Mental Capacity Assessment to Grant Lasting Power of Attorney?
The draft or completed LP1F or LP1H forms, the donor's account of who the attorneys are and why they are trusted, any relevant diagnosis and records, and the context of the wider planning. The assessor tests each element of the relevant information against the actual LPA being made, not LPAs in the abstract.
When is a formal assessment for Mental Capacity Assessment to Grant Lasting Power of Attorney useful?
A formal report is usually useful where the decision is important, disputed, high-value, court-related, professionally scrutinised or affected by concerns about pressure, fluctuating capacity, communication needs or safeguarding risk.
Related mental capacity assessment pages
These internal links help readers move from this guide to the most relevant Nellie Supports service page, assessment option or legal framework page.
Making an LPA and unsure about the test?
Nellie Supports completes LPA donor capacity assessments across England and Wales, with certificate provider services available, a same working day response to every enquiry and every report peer reviewed before delivery. Call 0333 987 5118 or visit the LPA capacity assessment service page.