Can Someone With Dementia Make a Power of Attorney?

A diagnosis is not the test

Dementia does not automatically rule out a lasting power of attorney. The law starts from the assumption that every adult has capacity, and a diagnosis on its own does not change that. Plenty of people in the early and middle stages of dementia make a perfectly valid LPA.

The question is narrower: on the day they sign, can your parent understand what the LPA is and what it lets their attorneys do? If they can, they can make one. If they clearly cannot, nobody can make it for them, and the family has to go down the much slower court route instead.

Can my dad appoint me as his attorney?

Yes. If your father or mother still has capacity to make the LPA, they can appoint you, your siblings, or anyone else they trust. Adult children are the most common choice.

The one thing that has to be right is who decides. The LPA belongs to your parent. They choose the attorneys, they decide whether you act together or separately, and they sign first. You can do everything else: research, filling in the forms, booking appointments, paying the fees. If it ever looked as though you had picked yourself and your parent just signed, the LPA would be open to challenge, so keep the choices visibly theirs.

How capacity is judged

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets a four-part test. For this one decision, at this one time, your parent needs to be able to:

1. understand the information involved, in broad terms: what an LPA is, who the attorneys would be, and what they could do;
2. keep that information in mind long enough to make the decision;
3. weigh it up, for example why they would choose one child over another;
4. communicate their decision, in any way at all.

It is about this decision only. Someone who can no longer manage their own banking may still understand perfectly well that they want their daughter to handle it. Capacity can also come and go. A person who is confused in the evening may be clear in the morning, and an LPA signed during a good spell is valid.

The certificate provider is the safeguard

Every LPA needs a certificate provider. This is an independent person who signs to confirm that your parent understands the LPA and is not being pressured into it. They must be either someone who has known your parent personally for at least two years, such as a friend or neighbour, or someone with relevant professional skills, such as their GP, a social worker or a solicitor.

They cannot be a family member, and they cannot be one of the attorneys. Our certificate provider guide has the full list of who can and cannot do it.

Where dementia has been diagnosed, a GP or other professional is the stronger choice, because their judgement on capacity carries more weight if anyone questions it later. Some GPs charge for this, as it is not NHS work, so ask when you book. Either way, a short note in your parent's medical records saying their capacity was checked on the day is worth having.

Practical tips for the signing day

If your parent is sharper in the morning, sign in the morning. Do it at home, with people they know, rather than squeezing it into a rushed appointment. And let them explain it back: if they can tell the certificate provider in their own words who will look after their money and why, that is good evidence of capacity.

Then follow the signing order exactly. Your parent signs first, then the certificate provider, then the attorneys. Getting this wrong is the most common reason LPAs are rejected, and a rejection costs weeks you may not have. See why LPA applications get rejected.

If your parent cannot physically hold a pen, someone else can sign for them, in front of them and two witnesses. That is allowed. The law cares whether they understand, not whether they can write.

Do it now, not later

What counts is your parent's capacity on the day they sign. Registration with the Office of the Public Guardian (£92 per LPA, several weeks) can still go ahead if they lose capacity afterwards, so the urgent part is the signing. With dementia, that window only gets smaller.

Most families make both types: property and financial affairs, and health and welfare. If your parent chooses, the financial one can be used with their permission as soon as it is registered, which helps with bills and banks long before capacity is lost.

If it is already too late

If your parent can no longer understand an LPA, it cannot be made. The options left are:

• If your parent made an enduring power of attorney (EPA) before October 2007, it still works for money and property. It has to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian once they are losing capacity.
• Otherwise, you can apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed their deputy. It takes months, the application fee alone is over £400, and there is yearly supervision and reporting afterwards. The court decides who acts, and health and welfare deputyships are rarely granted. The LPA vs deputyship comparison sets out the differences.
• If benefits are the main income, the Department for Work and Pensions can make you an appointee to manage them, without going to court. This only covers benefits, not bank accounts or property.

None of these is as good as an LPA your parent chose for themselves, which is why it is worth having the conversation sooner rather than later. Our guide to power of attorney for elderly parents has some help on how to start it.

When to get a solicitor instead

If your parent's capacity is genuinely borderline, if family members disagree about the LPA or who should be an attorney, or if anyone might later say your parent was pressured, pay for a solicitor. They can arrange a formal capacity assessment and their file notes make the LPA much harder to challenge. That is worth far more than the saving.

With PureWill

Where your parent clearly understands what they are signing, our LPA service is built for families doing exactly this. You fill in the questions with your parent, the choices stay theirs, and you get a signing plan that sets out who signs what and in which order. Both types cost £129, plus the £92 registration fee per LPA, and you can have the pack printed and posted so nobody needs a printer. If your parent's will also needs sorting, testamentary capacity explains how dementia affects that too.