Health & welfare LPA
The LPA that gives someone you trust a legal voice in your care and treatment, if the day comes that you cannot speak for yourself.
In short
A health and welfare LPA (form LP1H) lets people you trust make decisions about your care, medical treatment and where you live if you lose the capacity to make them yourself. You can also decide whether your attorneys can accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment. It can only be used once you lack capacity.
What your attorneys can decide
- Your day-to-day care and routine
- Where you live, including moving into care
- The medical treatment you receive
- Who you have contact with
- Life-sustaining treatment, if you give that authority
When it can be used
A health and welfare LPA only comes into effect once you can no longer make the decision yourself. Until then it stays dormant, and you remain in full control. That is why it is something to put in place long before it is needed.
Who it's for
Common situations
A health and welfare LPA is often set up when helping an older relative, or soon after a diagnosis while capacity remains.
Frequently asked questions
When can a health and welfare LPA be used?
Only once you have lost the capacity to make the decision yourself. Until then, you make your own care and treatment decisions and the LPA stays dormant.
What is life-sustaining treatment on the form?
The LP1H form asks whether you give your attorneys authority to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment on your behalf, or whether you want doctors to decide. It is an important choice to make deliberately.
Can my attorneys decide where I live?
Yes, if the LPA is in force and you cannot decide yourself. They can make decisions about your daily care, where you live, and the medical treatment you receive, always in your best interests.
Is it worth having as well as a financial LPA?
Yes. Without it, decisions about your care could be made by professionals applying a best-interests test, without your chosen attorney having legal authority to decide. Most people set up both LPAs.
LPASafe covers England and Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland use different systems. We are not a law firm and do not give legal advice. The LP1F and LP1H forms are available free on gov.uk.
Ready when you are
Give your wishes a voice
We complete the official LP1H correctly from your answers, following every OPG rejection reason. You just sign.