What is the difference between an LPA and a deputyship?
An LPA is made in advance, by you, while you have capacity. A deputyship is imposed afterwards, by the Court of Protection, once you do not. Both give someone authority to act for you; the differences are who chooses, how long it takes, what it costs and how much supervision follows.
The second route is worth being blunt about: a deputyship application is the expensive, slow way to arrive at a result that an LPA would have given you on your own terms.
| Lasting power of attorney | Deputyship | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides who acts | You | The Court of Protection |
| When it is made | While you have capacity | After capacity is lost |
| How long to obtain | The Office of the Public Guardian publishes a registration time of 8 to 10 weeks where there are no mistakes in the application, and the statutory four week waiting period under regulation 12 of the 2007 Regulations runs inside that time (checked 26 September 2026) | No official timescale is published for a deputyship application |
| Cost | One registration fee per LPA | Application fee, security bond, annual supervision fee and reports |
| Health and welfare decisions | Yes, with a health and welfare LPA | Rarely granted |
| Instructions and preferences | You set them | The court sets the terms |
| Can it be cancelled | By you, while you have capacity | Only by the court |
Can my attorney sell my house?
Under a registered property and financial affairs LPA, yes. The attorney signs the contract and the transfer in your name, and HM Land Registry accepts the transfer with a certified copy of the registered LPA and evidence that it has not been revoked. The attorney must act in your best interests and cannot sell to themselves, or at an undervalue, without the court's permission.
Jointly owned property has a twist. Where you own the house with your spouse and your spouse is also your attorney, they cannot act as both trustees at once. Section 7 of the Trustee Delegation Act 1999 provides that the two trustee requirement is not satisfied by a relevant attorney, meaning one who acts both as a trustee and as attorney for the other trustee, or as attorney for two or more trustees, and who is not acting together with anybody else. HM Land Registry puts the same point in Practice Guide 9, updated 25 November 2024, at section 4: a receipt for capital money will overreach beneficial interests only if an attorney acts with at least one other person. So a second person joins in, unless the sole trustee is a trust corporation, which section 27(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925 and section 7(2) both except (checked 20 September 2026). We build that into the LPA where a joint owner is being appointed, so it does not surface at the point of sale. Stamp Duty Land Tax in England, or Land Transaction Tax in Wales, is paid by the buyer as usual and is unaffected by the sale being made under an LPA.
In what order must an LPA be signed?
You sign first, and your signature is witnessed. The certificate provider signs next, confirming you understood the document and were under no pressure. The attorneys sign last, each witnessed, and each replacement attorney too. Every signature carries a date, and the dates must run in that order. That order is prescribed by regulation 9 of the Lasting Powers of Attorney, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Public Guardian Regulations 2007, and one signed out of sequence is very unlikely to be accepted, so in practice the document has to be executed again; the Public Guardian can overlook a difference that is immaterial, but the order of signing is not treated as one (checked 20 September 2026). The witness to your signature cannot be an attorney, and under regulation 9(8) you cannot witness any signature yourself, while an attorney may witness another attorney but not you. The certificate provider signs in the middle and their own signature needs no witness. We check all of it before anything is lodged.