A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can be revoked by the person who made it (the donor) at any time, provided they still have the mental capacity to understand what revoking it means. Revocation must be done formally, using a deed of revocation, and the Office of the Public Guardian and the attorneys must be told. If the donor has since lost capacity, revoking the LPA themselves is generally no longer possible, and a different route through the Court of Protection may be needed instead.
Written by Simon Jenkins, Curtis Legal LLP (Firm SRA No. 450129, Simon Jenkins SRA No. 167489). Call us on 0800 214 216 for a same-day callback.
Who can revoke an LPA?
Only the donor, the person who made the LPA, can revoke it, and only while they still have the mental capacity to make that decision. This is a deliberate safeguard: an LPA is the donor’s own choice about who should act for them, so the law does not allow attorneys, family members, or anyone else to cancel it on the donor’s behalf while the donor is still capable of deciding for themselves. Capacity to revoke is assessed under the same principles as capacity to make an LPA in the first place, as set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice: the donor must understand what the LPA does, what revoking it means, and the likely consequences of that decision.
The formal process for revoking an LPA
Revoking an LPA is not simply a matter of telling your attorney you no longer want them to act. There is a defined process to follow, and missing a step can leave the LPA technically still in force.
1. Sign a deed of revocation
The donor must sign a formal deed of revocation. This is a short legal document stating that the donor revokes the LPA with immediate effect. It must be signed by the donor and, as with the original LPA, is normally witnessed to avoid any later dispute about whether the donor had capacity or acted freely at the time.
2. Notify the Office of the Public Guardian
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) holds the register of LPAs, so it must be told that the LPA has been revoked. If the LPA was registered, the OPG will usually ask for the original deed of revocation, or confirmation along with the original LPA document, so that its records (and the register that organisations can check) reflect that the power no longer exists.
3. Tell the attorneys and any organisations holding a copy
Every attorney named in the LPA should be told in writing that it has been revoked, and asked to return or destroy any copies they hold. It is equally important to notify banks, building societies, care providers, GPs, hospitals, or any other organisation that was given a copy of the LPA or recorded it against the donor’s accounts or records, so nobody continues to treat the old attorney as having authority to act.
What happens if the donor has since lost capacity?
This is where revocation becomes much harder. Once a donor no longer has the mental capacity to understand what revoking an LPA means, they generally cannot revoke it themselves, even if family members are convinced that it is clearly in the donor’s best interests. The LPA remains valid and the attorney can keep acting under it.
There is, however, a safeguard for situations where an attorney is behaving improperly, acting outside their authority, or otherwise failing in their duties. In those circumstances, the Court of Protection can intervene. An interested party, such as a family member or another attorney, can apply to the Court of Protection to have the attorney removed and the LPA revoked or amended, on the basis of evidence of misconduct, conflict of interest, or the attorney being unsuitable to continue. This is a formal court process, not something that can be resolved simply by the family deciding amongst themselves, and it usually requires solid evidence rather than a general sense that someone else would do a better job.
Common reasons people revoke an LPA
- Breakdown in the relationship with the attorney, for example following a divorce, family dispute, or falling out.
- The attorney is no longer willing or able to act, whether through their own ill health, a change in personal circumstances, or them simply no longer wanting the responsibility.
- The donor wants to appoint someone else, perhaps because circumstances have changed since the original LPA was made, or because the donor feels another person is now better placed to help.
- The donor’s circumstances or wishes have changed, for example remarriage, the death of an attorney, or simply a change of mind about how their affairs should be managed.
Replacing a revoked LPA with a new one
Revoking an LPA does not automatically create a replacement, so if the donor still has capacity and wants someone to be able to act for them in future, a new LPA should be made at the same time, or shortly afterwards. It is worth taking the opportunity to reconsider the choice of attorney, whether to appoint replacement attorneys, and whether the powers given should be different this time. An LPA for property and financial affairs works differently from one for health and welfare decisions, and many donors choose to revoke and remake both together if their circumstances have changed significantly.
If capacity has already been lost and there is no LPA in place at all, whether because one was revoked and never replaced, or because none was ever made, the options for managing that person’s affairs change considerably, and usually mean an application to the Court of Protection becomes necessary.
