The frustrating truth
Most rejected LPAs do not fail because the donor made a bad decision. They fail on mechanics: signatures in the wrong order, impossible dates, a witness who was not allowed to witness, a page missing from the envelope. The Office of the Public Guardian checks these things strictly because an LPA hands over serious legal power, and a repeat application costs £46 per LPA and adds weeks, sometimes months.
Every one of these failures is avoidable. Here are the usual suspects.
Signing in the wrong order
The law requires a strict sequence. The donor signs first (and on a health and welfare LPA, signs the life-sustaining treatment choice at the same time). The certificate provider signs second. Every attorney and replacement signs third. The registration section is signed last of all.
Dates are how the OPG polices this. If your certificate provider's date is earlier than the donor's, the form says the safeguard happened before the thing it safeguards. Automatic rejection. Same-day signing is fine; time travel is not.
The wrong witness
The donor's signature must be witnessed by someone 18 or over who is not an attorney or replacement attorney on the LPA. Attorneys' signatures can be witnessed by each other, but never by the donor. Using the donor as a witness, or an attorney witnessing the donor, are both classic failures.
The certificate provider can witness the donor's signature. A lot of people do not realise that, and it saves finding an extra person.
An ineligible certificate provider
Family members, attorneys' relatives, employees and care home staff cannot be certificate providers, however willing. The full list is in our certificate provider guide. The OPG checks names and addresses against the attorneys, and connections get spotted.
Corrections done badly
Crossing something out and scribbling over it invites trouble. The official guidance: cross out the mistake, rewrite nearby, and have everyone involved in that section initial the change. Never use correction fluid. If a section is badly mangled, reprint that page and re-sign it rather than submitting a mess.
Instructions that are legally impossible
The preferences and instructions section is optional, and most people should leave it blank. Binding instructions that conflict with the law ("my attorneys must give my son £200 a month" on a health and welfare LPA, for instance) can force the OPG to sever the instruction or refuse registration. If you want to write anything beyond simple wishes, keep to preferences, use words like "would like", and keep it short.
Missing pages
Send every page of each LPA, including the ones you wrote nothing on. The forms are checked page by page, and an incomplete document cannot be registered.
With PureWill
This list is the reason our LPA service exists. The forms arrive pre-filled with a personalised signing walkthrough: who signs, where, in what order, with the witness rules spelled out for each signature. Add the printed pack and it lands flat on your doormat ready to sign. Start with what an LPA costs if you are weighing up the options.
Set up both lasting powers of attorney online for £129. One set of questions, with a signing plan.
Set up my LPA →
Is your situation complex? Blended family, overseas property, business interests, or trusts? Please find a qualified solicitor. PureWill is for straightforward estates only.