Lasting Power of Attorney Assessments in UK
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) assessment helps establish whether a person has the mental capacity to understand and make decisions about appointing someone to act on their behalf. At Gain Expert Assessments, our qualified professionals provide independent assessments across England and Wales. We assess the individual’s understanding of the LPA and provide a clear written report to support solicitors, families, and the person making the LPA.
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What an LPA Covers and Why Timing Matters
An LPA hands decisions to people you trust, whether about money and property or about health, welfare and long-term care. It can reach into wider legal and personal affairs too. You’re the donor. The people you pick become your attorneys.
The catch sits in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. You need capacity to make an LPA on the day you sign. Families sometimes miss that window by a few weeks, and their route then runs through the Court of Protection instead. It’s slower, and it costs more.
When to Arrange an Independent
LPA Capacity Assessment
An independent LPA capacity assessment may be helpful when there are concerns about a person’s ability to understand and make decisions about a Lasting Power of Attorney. Although a separate assessment is not required in every case, it can provide additional evidence of the person’s mental capacity at the time of assessment.
Concerns about memory, dementia, or changes in cognitive ability
A solicitor requests an independent capacity assessment before the LPA is signed
Additional support may be needed due to a learning disability, brain injury, or mental health condition
Concerns about decision-making ability following an illness or hospital stay
Family disagreements raise concerns about the person’s capacity or freedom to make their own decisions
There are questions about the person’s understanding of important financial decisions
An LPA signing is approaching and an independent capacity assessment has been requested
What Does the Donor Need to Understand?
Capacity to grant an LPA comes down to whether the donor grasps what the document is and how much authority it hands their attorneys. They should see what could follow from that. The choice must be theirs, free of pressure, and they have to get it across to us somehow, whether by speaking, writing or pointing.
In Public Guardian v RI [2022] EWCOP 22, the court added two points. The donor should know when attorneys can start using the LPA, and that they can cancel it while they have capacity. We check it all in a donor capacity assessment for LPA by talking it through, like any big decision over tea.
Why Choose Our LPA Assessment Service UK
Solicitors instruct us. So do families doing this for the first time. Both need the same thing from an LPA capacity assessment company, a report that stands up.
No connection to anyone involved
We have no tie to the family, the attorneys or the solicitor drafting the LPA, so the evidence alone decides our opinion.
Court of Protection know-how
Our assessors also work on Court of Protection cases. They know what a judge picks apart years later, and they write with that in mind.
Reports solicitors can file
Every report ends in a clear opinion, written in plain English. It goes straight into the client's LPA file without a rewrite.
Quick to respond
With signing booked for next week, ask about a fast track LPA assessment service and we'll tell you plainly what we can do.
Trusted by legal professionals
Legal professionals rely on our reports, and our clients rate us 4.8 out of 5 from 42 Google reviews.
Helping the Person Make the Decision Themselves
The law presumes the donor can decide. Dementia doesn’t overturn that by itself. Nor does Alzheimer’s, or a learning disability. We judge the decision, not the condition.
So before reaching a view, we help. That could mean plain words and easy-read sheets, a shorter session, or a familiar face nearby who isn’t an attorney. Learning disability nursing runs through our team, and you’ll notice it in small habits, like asking a question several different ways before treating a muddled answer as a no.
How Our Assessment Differs From a
Certificate Provider Check
No LPA registers without a certificate provider’s signature. That signature and our assessment do different jobs, and the gap between them shows when somebody challenges the LPA.
| Certificate provider check | Independent mental capacity assessment | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does it | Someone who's known the donor for two years, or a professional such as a solicitor or GP | A specialist assessor with no link to the family or the attorneys |
| What it tests | That the donor understands the LPA and faces no pressure | Each part of the legal test, applied to this donor on this day |
| What you get | A signature on the LPA form | A written report with the evidence and our reasoning, which also supports the certificate provider |
How the LPA Capacity Assessment Works, Step by Step
Five steps take a referral to a finished report. You’ll know who’s coming before anyone knocks on the door.
Initial consultation
One phone call usually covers it. We hear about the donor, the LPA and anything worrying the family or the solicitor.
Background and records
With the donor’s agreement, we read GP records, medical letters and care notes, then speak to someone who sees them most days.
The assessment
We sit with the donor on their own for the Mental Capacity Act assessment. No attorney stays in the room, so nobody steers an answer.
Our findings
Afterwards, we test what the donor said against the records and the family’s account, and reach a view on each part of the test.
Report and ongoing support
The report reaches you within the timescale we agreed at referral. We stay available to talk it through with the solicitor.
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What Your Report Includes and What Happens Next
We write the LPA medical capacity report while the visit is fresh. Years on, if anyone disputes the LPA, a record made at the time carries more weight than what people remember.
Capacity findings on each part of the legal test, with the evidence for each
How far the donor understood the LPA and what it could mean for them
Wishes and preferences for the future, quoted in the donor’s own words
A clear opinion your solicitor and the certificate provider can lean on later
Some visits end with a no. If the donor can’t make an LPA, the family’s next route is a deputyship through the Court of Protection, and our team can carry out the COP3 assessment it needs. Doubts about an LPA that’s already signed call for a retrospective capacity assessment, which we also offer.
Choosing the Right Time for the Assessment
Capacity moves. A chest infection can blur someone’s thinking for a fortnight, and the last days of a hospital stay often do the same. We’ll wait for a better week instead of assessing a donor who’s struggling for reasons that will pass.
The other end matters as well. Our report speaks to the day we saw the donor, so a visit three months before signing reads weaker than one three days before. We try to book close to the signing date.
Capacity Assessments for Both Types of LPA
The two LPAs hand over different decisions, so we look at each one separately. If the donor is making both, one visit normally covers them.
Capacity Assessment for Property and Financial Affairs LPA
Bank accounts, bills, pensions, investments, property. This LPA, on form LP1F, hands all of them to the attorneys. We make sure the donor knows those attorneys could sell the family home, and that they can let the LPA start on registration or hold it back until they lose capacity.
Capacity Assessment for Health and Welfare LPA
Form LP1H reaches into everyday life, from care and routine to where the donor lives and which treatment they accept. Attorneys can’t touch it while the donor can still decide. In our experience, life-sustaining treatment gets the longest conversation, because it’s the box donors hesitate over most.
Who Carries Out Your Assessment and What Does It Cost?
Victoria Sample or one of our assessors will see the donor, and we choose who goes. A donor with a learning disability might meet our nursing lead. A brain injury case could need someone else entirely. Ask us who’s coming and what they’re registered as, and you’ll get a straight answer before we book.
Your LPA capacity assessment cost depends on travel, how many records we read and how tangled the question is. We quote once we’ve seen the referral. If you’re comparing prices for an affordable LPA capacity assessment, get every quote in writing with the report included.
LPA Assessments Across England & Wales
Referrals come in steadily from London and Greater Manchester, and from the Midlands, Yorkshire, the North East, Hampshire and Dorset, and South Wales. Anywhere else in England and Wales works too, since the Mental Capacity Act 2005 covers both countries.
We’re based in Bramcote, Nottingham, but donors rarely come to us. We go to them. A home visit capacity assessment UK families arrange with us fits around meals, rests and carers’ visits. Care homes and hospital wards are fine, and so is secure video for donors who cope well on screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a capacity assessment legally required to make an LPA?
In most cases, no. The law only asks for a certificate provider’s signature. We’d still recommend one whenever there’s a diagnosis, a shaky answer at the solicitor’s office or a family rift brewing. A written assessment made at the time is the strongest answer to a challenge later.
Can a GP do a capacity assessment for a power of attorney?
Many will, and a GP can sign as certificate provider too. Some practices decline, or send a two-line letter, particularly if the family looks divided. Our assessment works through the full legal test and leaves a report a judge can still follow years from now.
Can someone with dementia still make a Lasting Power of Attorney?
Often, yes, especially early on. What counts is whether the donor grasps this LPA on the day we visit, with whatever support helps them. Don’t wait for a better moment, though. Dementia tends to narrow that window, and once it shuts, it stays shut.
How much does an LPA capacity assessment cost?
Cost depends on the case, so we quote after reading the referral. Ask for that quote in writing, with the report and any follow-up questions included. If the donor is making both LPAs, say so early and one quote will cover the whole visit.
Can I get a same-day mental capacity assessment?
Sometimes. Whether we can offer a same day mental capacity assessment UK solicitors ask for depends on the donor’s location, the records we need first and how close the signing is. Ring us with the date. We’ll be straight with you, and we won’t hurry a donor who needs longer.
Can the assessment take place at home?
Yes, and home usually suits donors best. Their own chair and routine help them think, and we’ve found people answer more freely there. Someone they trust can stay, provided it isn’t an attorney. Allow about an hour, with breaks whenever the donor wants one.
What questions does the assessor ask?
Expect plain questions about the donor’s own plans. We ask why they want an LPA, who they’ve chosen, what those attorneys could do and how they’d cancel it. A cognitive assessment for power of attorney purposes can’t settle the legal question alone, so we never lean on a memory score.
What happens if the assessment finds they lack capacity?
Then the LPA can’t go ahead for now. We explain our findings to the family and the solicitor, and talk through deputyship with the Court of Protection as the usual next step. If capacity might come back, we’ll tell you whether a later reassessment is worth booking.
Can the Office of the Public Guardian reject an LPA over capacity?
Registration doesn’t involve a capacity check. The OPG mostly looks at the forms. When someone objects that the donor lacked capacity, the Court of Protection decides before registration goes ahead. Even after registration, the OPG can investigate and ask the court to cancel an LPA.
Can one visit cover both types of LPA?
Both fit into one appointment. We still treat them as two decisions, because a donor can follow the money LPA easily and lose the thread on health and welfare. You’ll see a separate view on each in the report, so one doesn’t prop up the other.
Who carries out the assessment?
Victoria or one of our assessors takes each visit. If the donor would feel easier with a woman, or someone who speaks slowly, tell us and we’ll plan around it. For any reassessment later, we try to send the same face, so the donor isn’t starting over.
Who can request an LPA assessment?
Solicitors often do, but so can the donor, family members, deputies, case managers and healthcare professionals. One thing doesn’t bend. The donor has to agree to the visit, and we won’t assess anyone who doesn’t want to take part, whoever made the referral.
Can you support COP3 applications as well?
We do. When an LPA isn’t possible, our team can complete the COP3 assessment for the deputyship application. The family deals with people who already know the donor’s history, and the donor avoids repeating hard conversations with a stranger. The court gets one consistent picture too.
Does an LPA assessment cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. LPAs and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 apply in England and Wales only. Scotland has continuing and welfare powers of attorney under its own law, and Northern Ireland still uses enduring powers of attorney. For that reason, our work stays within England and Wales.
Talk to Us About an LPA Assessment
Maybe the signing date is fixed and the solicitor won’t move without evidence. Call us. In one conversation, we’ll learn about the donor and the deadline, then tell you how our Lasting Power of Attorney Assessments UK service would handle it, or point you elsewhere if we’re the wrong fit. Gain Expert Assessments is at Office 17 The Grove, Peache Way, Bramcote, Nottingham NG9 3DX. Phone 0330 380 2184 or email help@gaincapacityexperts.co.uk. We also carry out mental capacity assessments for other decisions, executive functioning and brain injury assessments, and best interests assessments once someone has lost capacity.