Enduring power of attorney: acting as an attorney

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Register an enduring power of attorney

You must register the enduring power of attorney (EPA) as soon as the donor starts to lose mental capacity.

  1. Tell the donor, their family members and other attorneys you intend to register the EPA.

  2. Apply to register the EPA.

  3. Pay the fee.

Telling people you intend to register

Download and fill in form EP1PG. Send it to:

  • the donor
  • at least 3 of the donor’s family members who are eligible - they must be 18 or over and have mental capacity
  • any attorneys who were appointed ‘jointly and severally’ but are not applying to register the EPA

You must tell the first 3 eligible family members from the following list. If there’s no family member in a particular category, move on to the next one. You must try to tell the family members in this order:

  • donor’s husband, wife or civil partner
  • donor’s children (including adopted children but not including stepchildren)
  • donor’s parents
  • donor’s brothers and sisters (including half-brothers and half-sisters)
  • widow or widower or surviving civil partner of the donor’s child
  • donor’s grandchildren
  • donor’s nephews and nieces (children of the donor’s full brothers and sisters)
  • donor’s nephews and nieces (children of the donor’s half-brothers and half-sisters)
  • donor’s aunts and uncles (full brothers or sisters of a parent of the donor)
  • donor’s first cousins (children of the donor’s aunts and uncles who are full brothers and sisters of a parent of the donor)

You must tell all the people in a category if you tell one of them, for example if 1 of the 3 relatives you’re telling is a grandchild and the donor has 15 other grandchildren, you must tell all 16 of them.

If you’re a family member as well as an attorney, you count as one of the people to be told. You’ll still have to tell other people in your category.

You must do all you can to find the people you’re telling. If you cannot find their address, or if there are not 3 relatives alive, tell the Office of the Public Guardian when you apply to register.

People who you tell can object to the registration. They have 35 days to object from when they get the form.

Apply to register

Download and fill in the application form EP2PG.

As soon as you’ve officially told people you intend to register, send the form to the Office of the Public Guardian.

Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 16185
Birmingham
B2 2WH

Use a different address if you’re a member of the DX Exchange courier service.

Office of the Public Guardian
DX 744240
Birmingham 79

Include the original EPA form or a certified copy if the original has been lost.

You’ll also need to pay the fee.

Fees

It costs £82 to register an EPA, unless you’re applying for help with fees (LPA120).

Send a cheque for the fee payable to ‘Office of the Public Guardian’. Write the donor’s name on the back of the cheque.

How long registration takes

The EPA will usually be registered between 8 and 10 weeks after you sent the application form and told the family members. It will take longer if one or more of the family members object.