Do I Need a Will AND a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Yes — and the reason is that they cover two completely different situations. A will protects your estate after you die. An LPA protects you while you are still alive but cannot make decisions. Without one or the other, you or your family could face serious, preventable problems.
A Will
Takes effect after you die. Appoints an executor, decides who inherits your estate, names a guardian for minor children, and can create trusts.
A Lasting Power of Attorney
Takes effect while you are alive but incapacitated. Appoints attorneys to manage your finances and health decisions if you cannot do so yourself.
These documents cover completely different scenarios. A will is useless if you have a stroke at 55. An LPA is useless after you die. You need both.
What a Will Does
A will is a legal document that sets out your wishes for what happens to your estate — your money, property, and possessions — after you die. In England and Wales, a will must be signed by the testator in the presence of two independent witnesses who both also sign.
A valid will lets you:
- Choose who inherits your estate (your “beneficiaries”)
- Appoint an executor to administer your estate and apply for probate
- Name a guardian for any children under 18
- Create trusts — for example, to protect assets for vulnerable beneficiaries
- Leave specific items or cash gifts to individuals or charities
- Reduce potential inheritance tax through careful planning
Without a will: intestacy rules apply
If you die without a will (“intestate”), the Administration of Estates Act 1925 determines who inherits. The rules are rigid and often produce unintended outcomes:
- An unmarried partner receives nothing under intestacy — however long you have been together
- A spouse receives all personal chattels and the first £322,000; the rest is split 50/50 with children
- Children may inherit directly at age 18, rather than via a trust at a later age
- There is no named guardian for minor children — the court decides
- Charities you cared about receive nothing
What a Lasting Power of Attorney Does
An LPA is a legal document that appoints one or more attorneys to act on your behalf if you lose mental capacity — whether through a sudden accident, a stroke, dementia, or any other cause. There are two types, and you can make one or both:
Property & Financial Affairs LPA
Allows attorneys to:
- Access and manage your bank accounts
- Pay your bills, rent, and mortgage
- Sell your property on your behalf
- Manage investments and savings
- Claim benefits you are entitled to
Health & Welfare LPA
Allows attorneys to:
- Make medical treatment decisions
- Decide on care home placement
- Give or refuse consent to treatment
- Make day-to-day welfare decisions
- Decide on life-sustaining treatment (optional)
Critical: an LPA must be made and registered before capacity is lost. Once capacity is gone, it is too late to make an LPA. The only alternative is an expensive and slow Court of Protection deputyship, costing £3,000–£7,000+.
Without an LPA: your family cannot act for you
There is no automatic right for a family member — even a spouse — to manage your finances or make medical decisions for you if you lose capacity. Banks will freeze accounts. Medical teams may make decisions without input from your family. The only solution is a Court of Protection application, which takes 6–18 months and costs thousands of pounds. An LPA, registered in advance, costs £82 per document.
Will vs LPA: At a Glance
| Feature | Will | LPA |
|---|---|---|
| When it applies | After death | While alive but incapacitated |
| Takes effect | On death (once probate granted) | Once registered — immediately or on loss of capacity |
| What it covers | Assets, inheritance, guardianship | Finances and/or health & welfare decisions |
| Minimum cost | £19.97 (WillSafe kit) | £82 per LPA (OPG registration) |
| Registration required? | No (takes effect on signing) | Yes — must register with OPG |
| Time to prepare | Hours to a few days | 8–20 weeks for registration |
| Can be changed? | Yes, revoke and replace at any time | Yes, revoke while you have capacity |
| If you don’t have one | Intestacy rules apply | Court of Protection deputyship required |
Who Especially Needs Both — Right Now
Strictly speaking, every adult in England and Wales needs both a will and at least one LPA. But the following groups face the most serious consequences from not having them:
Unmarried couples
Without a will, your partner inherits nothing. Without an LPA, they have no authority over your finances or care if you are incapacitated. This is the group most frequently harmed by the gap between what people assume the law provides and what it actually does.
Parents of children under 18
A will is the only legal way to appoint a guardian for your children. If both parents die without wills, the court decides who raises your children. This decision needs to be made by you, not a judge who does not know your family.
Property owners
Without an LPA, a jointly owned property may not be capable of being sold if one owner loses capacity — banks and solicitors require either a registered LPA or a court order. This can become acute in care home funding situations.
Anyone over 50, or with a health condition
Capacity can be lost suddenly through stroke, accident, or a progressive condition. An LPA must be made before that happens. The OPG takes 8–20 weeks just to register — so the time to act is well before any diagnosis, not after.
How to Get Both Documents Sorted
Make your will
Use the WillSafe online kit to complete a legally valid will for England and Wales in under an hour. Download, sign in front of two independent witnesses, and store somewhere safe. From £19.97.
Make both LPAs
Complete the Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare LPAs at gov.uk/lasting-power-of-attorney (online) or using forms LP1F and LP1H (paper). Sign with your certificate provider. £82 per LPA to register.
Submit the LPAs for registration
Post or submit online to the Office of the Public Guardian. Allow 8–20 weeks. The LPAs cannot be used until the OPG returns them stamped. Start this process immediately — do not wait until you need it.
Tell your attorneys and executor where documents are stored
Store originals in a secure location. Tell your executor and at least one attorney where they are kept. Consider registering the will with the National Will Register (Certainty) for £30 so it can be found after death.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my attorney under an LPA also act as my executor under my will?
Yes — there is no legal rule against the same person being both your LPA attorney and your executor. In practice, many people appoint a trusted spouse or adult child in both roles. The functions are entirely separate: attorney powers cease at death, at which point the executor role begins. One practical caution: if you appoint only one person in both roles and they predecease you or cannot act, you may have no fallback in either document — so consider naming a replacement attorney and an alternative executor as a safeguard.
Which should I make first: a will or an LPA?
Make both as soon as possible, but if you must choose a sequence, a will is marginally quicker to prepare and takes effect immediately on signing (subject to correct witnessing). An LPA requires registration with the Office of the Public Guardian, which currently takes 8–20 weeks, so the LPA should ideally be submitted for registration at the same time or shortly after completing the will. For most people, making both in the same sitting — especially using an online service or a solicitor — is the most efficient approach.
Does an LPA become invalid when I die?
Yes — a lasting power of attorney automatically ceases to have effect on the death of the donor. After death, the LPA attorney's authority ends entirely and the executor of the will takes over. The executor's powers derive from the will and the grant of probate, not from the LPA. Banks and other institutions will ask to see the grant of probate (or letters of administration in an intestacy) rather than the LPA when dealing with the deceased's estate.
What is the cost difference between a will and an LPA?
A WillSafe single will kit costs £19.97 and the couples bundle is £29.97 — by far the cheapest route to a legally valid will. A solicitor-drafted basic will typically costs £150–£300. For LPAs, the Office of the Public Guardian registration fee is £82 per document (£164 for both a Property and Financial Affairs LPA and a Health and Welfare LPA). Those on certain means-tested benefits may qualify for a fee remission. If a solicitor completes the LPA paperwork, expect to add £300–£600 to those costs. Total for a will and two LPAs done at home: under £200 in government fees plus the cost of the will kit.
Can an unmarried partner use an LPA to make medical decisions for me?
Only if you have made a Health and Welfare LPA and appointed them as your attorney. Without an LPA, an unmarried partner has no automatic legal right to make medical or financial decisions on your behalf — regardless of how long you have been together. By contrast, a spouse or civil partner also has no automatic right under English law without an LPA: the MCA 2005 does not give next-of-kin automatic decision-making authority. The LPA is the only way to formally grant someone the authority to act for you if you lose capacity. This is one of the most common planning failures for cohabiting couples.
Start with Your Will Today
A WillSafe will kit is the fastest way to have a legally valid will in England and Wales. Download instantly, complete at your own pace, sign with two witnesses — done. From £19.97.