Lasting Power of Attorney in Oxfordshire
Fixed-fee Lasting Powers of Attorney across Oxfordshire — we handle the whole signing, or prepare everything for you to sign at home.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you choose someone you trust — your attorney — to make decisions on your behalf if you ever can’t make them yourself, whether through illness, an accident or the effects of age. The person making the LPA is called the donor (that’s you); the people you appoint are your attorneys.
Many people assume a husband, wife or next of kin can automatically step in. In reality they can’t. Without an LPA, your family may have to apply to the Court of Protection — slower, more expensive and more stressful than putting an LPA in place while you’re well. Making an LPA now keeps you in control of who decides, and how.
The two types of LPA
There are two kinds, and you can make one or both.
Health & Welfare LPA
Lets your attorney make decisions about your medical treatment, care and daily living arrangements — including, if you wish, decisions about life-sustaining treatment. It can only be used once you’re no longer able to make those decisions yourself.
Property & Financial Affairs LPA
Lets your attorney manage your money and property — paying bills, running bank accounts, dealing with pensions or benefits, even selling a home if needed. With your permission it can be used while you still have capacity (helpful if you find it hard to get out), as well as if you later lose it.
Most people put both in place, so that every kind of decision is covered.
Two ways to set up your LPA with A.D.E Wills
Whichever you choose, we prepare your LPA, act as your Certificate Provider (the independent person who confirms you understand what you’re signing and aren’t being pressured), and register it with the Office of the Public Guardian so it’s ready to use. The only difference between our two options is whether we handle the signing appointment for you.
Your instructions appointment can be online or a home visit, whichever suits you. The signing itself must be done in person — with Full Service we attend and witness it for you; with Self-Sign you sign it yourself at home.
Full Service LPA
We handle everything — we prepare your LPA, oversee the signing as your witness and Certificate Provider, and register it with the OPG. The hands-off choice if you’d rather leave it all to us.
From £480 online · £600 in person
Self-Sign LPA
We prepare and register your LPA and act as your Certificate Provider; you sign it yourself at home and post it back. Everything else is handled for you — £140 less than Full Service.
From £340 online · £460 in person
In person means meeting to discuss your LPA instructions at your home or our Oxford office — the price is the same either way. Online is our lower-cost route (with a telephone option as backup) and is available UK-wide.
Clear, fixed-fee LPAs
Every LPA at a clear, fixed price — no hidden extras and no hourly rates. See exactly what you’ll pay before you decide.
All prices exclude the OPG’s £92 registration fee per LPA, which is a government fee paid directly to the OPG.
Key people involved in an LPA
The donor – you
the person making the LPA and giving the decision-making power.
Your attorneys
the people you trust to make decisions for you. You can appoint more than one, and say whether they act together or separately.
Replacement attorneys
a back-up who steps in if one of your attorneys can no longer act.
The Certificate Provider
an independent person who confirms you understand the LPA and aren't being pressured into it. For our clients, we act as your Certificate Provider.
How signing & registration work
An LPA must be signed in the right order to be legally valid: you (the donor) sign first, then your Certificate Provider, then your attorneys and any replacements. Finally, whoever is applying to register the LPA — usually you as the donor — signs the application section at the very end, after everyone else.
Once it’s all signed, it has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used — the OPG checks it’s been made correctly and returns the registered LPA to you. With both our options, we prepare it in the right order and handle that registration for you.
LPAs are governed by the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which requires your attorneys to act in your best interests at all times, to assume you can make your own decisions wherever possible, and never to treat you as unable to decide simply because they’d have chosen differently.
Need something more specific?
We also prepare Ordinary Powers of Attorney — a temporary arrangement for while you still have capacity, useful during a hospital stay or a spell abroad — and Business LPAs, to protect a business if you’re a sole trader, director or partner. Just ask and we’ll point you to the right one.
A trusted LPA service in Oxford and across Oxfordshire
As a friendly, professional LPA service based in Oxford, we combine genuine care with proper expertise. Your LPA is prepared by a full member of the Society of Will Writers, working to their Code of Practice and holding full professional indemnity insurance. Our fees are fixed and explained up front — and we write in language you can actually understand.
LPAs across Oxfordshire and beyond
We’re based on Woodstock Road in Oxford and offer home visits right across our core area of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, extending into Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. A little further afield, a small travel supplement may apply.
And because our online service works just as well by video, we can help clients anywhere in the UK — including people living abroad who still hold assets or family here. So wherever you are, there’s a way to set up your LPA.
Your LPA is part of your wider estate planning
An LPA works best alongside a well-made Will and a plan to keep both documents safe and up to date. Making an LPA is part of our full estate planning service, so everything fits together.
Not sure where to start? Grab our free LPA guide
The LPA Starter Guide walks you through what an LPA does, why it matters, and the simple ways we can help — in plain English, with nothing to decide today.
Frequently asked questions
If you’d want someone you trust — rather than a court — to step in should you ever be unable to make your own decisions, then yes. An LPA is the only way to choose who that person is in advance.
A Health & Welfare LPA covers care and medical decisions; a Property & Financial Affairs LPA covers money and property. You can make one or both — most people set up both, so every kind of decision is covered.
Not automatically — even a spouse or civil partner can’t. Without an LPA, they’d have to apply to the Court of Protection, which takes time and money. An LPA set up in advance avoids all of that.
From £340 for a single Self-Sign LPA, or £480 for Full Service, plus the OPG’s £92 registration fee per LPA. Full details are on our pricing page.
Both. We offer home visits across Oxfordshire and nearby (or meet at our Oxford office, same price), and an online service UK-wide with a telephone backup. The signing itself is always done in person.
No — and to be clear, we’re not solicitors ourselves; we’re professional estate planners and accredited members of the Society of Will Writers. An LPA doesn’t require a solicitor, and we prepare and register yours to the same professional standard, usually at a lower fixed fee and with more flexible appointments, including evenings and home visits.
It depends on the type. A Health & Welfare LPA can only ever be used once you’re no longer able to make those decisions yourself. A Property & Financial Affairs LPA can be set up either to be used only if you lose capacity, or — if you choose this option when making it — as soon as it’s registered, with your permission, which some people find practical for day-to-day help. Either way, an LPA must be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used, and we’ll talk through which option suits you.
Ready to take the first step?
Not sure where to begin? That’s exactly what we’re here for. Tell us a little about your situation and we’ll point you the right way — no pressure, no obligation.