Why Do LPAs Get Rejected? (2026)

Key takeaways

• A rejection usually means a delay while you fix a mistake, not the end of your Lasting Power of Attorney.
• The Office of the Public Guardian has said around 15% of applications contain errors when they arrive.
• Applications made on GOV.UK get rejected too — both routes end with printed pages signed in ink and posted.
• Minor corrections are free. If you must start again, re-apply within 3 months for £46 rather than £92.
• Family members can witness signatures but can never be certificate providers. Your certificate provider can be a witness.

How often do LPAs get rejected?

Often enough that you're in ordinary company. The OPG has said around 15% of applications have errors of various kinds — roughly one in every seven reaching the registry.

GOV.UK quotes 8 to 10 weeks when there are no mistakes, and waits have frequently run longer, so treat that as the floor. Inside it sits a statutory waiting period, giving anyone named as a "person to notify" time to object — they have three weeks from being notified. If the OPG spots an error, the clock stops.

These rules cover England and Wales.

Do digital LPAs get rejected too?

Yes. The GOV.UK tool stops you leaving boxes blank, but both routes end the same way: pages printed, signed in ink, witnessed in person, posted to Birmingham. Only pencil, correction fluid and misaligned printing are paper-specific.

What happens if the OPG finds a mistake?

One of three things, depending on severity.

A delay. For minor oversights — a missing date of birth, an incomplete address — the OPG writes to the correspondence address on your form and holds the application until you reply. This costs nothing, but every week that letter sits unopened adds a week to your wait. If it isn’t clear what’s being asked, call the OPG on 0300 456 0300.

A document that isn’t valid as written. Where wording breaks legal rules, the OPG must apply to the Court of Protection to sever it before the rest can be registered — it has no power to sever a clause itself.

An outright refusal. Signing out of sequence, an outdated form, correction fluid. You start again.

The ten mistakes the OPG names

From the OPG's Ten common mistakes made when creating an LPA:

GOV.UK's more recent Avoiding errors when completing an LPA form (October 2023) adds four traps: names that don't match across the form (initials, or a middle name on one page and not the next), misaligned printing, corrections not initialled by the right person, and mixing health and welfare pages into a financial LPA.

Do you get your £92 back if your LPA is rejected?

Assume not. GOV.UK doesn't publish a refund policy for rejected applications. What it publishes is the mechanism that tells you where you stand: if you have to apply again, you can do so within 3 months for £46 rather than £92 — a reduced fee that exists precisely because the original has been spent processing your first attempt.

So a minor correction costs nothing; a rejection forcing a fresh application costs £46 within three months, £92 after that. Refunds exist in limited circumstances, decided case by case, so contact the OPG rather than assuming.

The OPG fee is £92 per document, so a full set covering both a Property and Financial Affairs LPA and a Health and Welfare LPA is £184. Reduced fees and exemptions apply if the donor’s gross income is under £12,000 or they receive certain benefits.

Which route should you use?

The free route works perfectly well for a straightforward LPA if you're careful. What it doesn't do is check your work.

How long does it take to fix a rejected LPA?

If it can be patched — a missing signature or date — the application is held until you respond, then picks up where it left off. Expect several extra weeks.

If the LPA is void — the donor signed after an attorney, say — you can’t amend the pages. You print a new form, collect every signature in sequence, and resubmit, resetting the whole timeline including the waiting period.

Why does signing in the wrong order invalidate an LPA?

Sign the pages out of order and the LPA is void. Not delayed — void, with no route back other than starting again. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its regulations set a strict order.

On an LP1H the donor signs first of all — continuation sheets, then Section 5 (life-sustaining treatment), then Section 9, each witnessed. Signing Section 5 after Section 9, or leaving it unwitnessed, is a common and avoidable rejection.

1. The donor signs Section 9, witnessed by an adult who is physically present.
2. The certificate provider signs Section 10 — after the donor, before any attorney. There’s no deadline in law, but signing the same day keeps the dates unambiguous, which is what the OPG is checking.
3. The attorneys sign Section 11 last, on the same day as the certificate provider or after — never before either.

If an attorney signs on Tuesday and the donor on Wednesday, the document is void. And everyone must be in the physical presence of their witness — video calls and remote witnessing don’t count in law.

If the sequence is what’s worrying you, our step-by-step signing instructions set out who signs which section, in what order.

Who can act as your witness?

Yes, a family member can. Per the official LP12 guidance, a witness cannot be:

• Anyone under 18.
• An attorney or replacement attorney — they can't witness the donor's signature.
• The donor — who can't witness an attorney's signature.
• An employee of a trust corporation appointed as attorney, on a financial LPA.

That's the full list — a husband, wife, son or daughter can witness the donor's signature provided they aren't named as an attorney. Your certificate provider can also be a witness.

Who cannot be your certificate provider?

Your certificate provider is an independent safeguard, and the wrong person in Section 10 means the document is turned down. They must be either someone who has known the donor personally for two years or more as a friend, neighbour or colleague — not a relative — or a professional such as a GP, solicitor, social worker or independent mental capacity advocate. They cannot be:

• An attorney or replacement attorney.
• A family member of the donor — spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, step-relatives.
• A family member of any attorney.
• An unmarried partner of the donor or of any attorney.
• A business partner or paid employee of either.
• An owner, director, manager or employee of a care home where the donor lives.

Confusing the witness rules with the certificate provider rules is one of the OPG's most frequent errors.

What counts as an "unlawful" instruction?

The forms let you list preferences (wishes) and instructions (binding conditions). An instruction is unlawful if it asks an attorney to do something illegal, mixes legal powers, or strips away basic rights such as spending the donor’s money on care.

Contradictions cause holds too, usually when appointing more than one attorney:

• Jointly — every decision unanimous. If one attorney dies or can't act, a jointly appointed LPA fails entirely unless replacements cover it. The most consequential choice on the form.
• Jointly and severally — they decide together, or any one acts alone.

The classic conflict: ticking "jointly and severally", then writing "all my attorneys must agree on decisions about my house." That contradicts the appointment, and the OPG may need to apply to the Court of Protection to sever it.

Can you correct a mistake with Tippex or pencil?

An LPA hands someone control over bank accounts or medical decisions, so pencil and white-out create a fraud risk: the registry can't tell if a change was made before signing or after.

• Black or dark blue ink throughout; no correction fluid, tape, stickers or pencil anywhere.
• A slip before signing: one clean line through it, the correction alongside, initialled by the person completing that section — the right person, which the OPG names specifically.
• A wrong signature block or date: print that page fresh.
• Don't staple or bind the application.

What if the donor has lost capacity?

This is the one case where a rejection stops being an inconvenience. An LPA can only be made by someone with the capacity to make it, so if the donor can no longer understand and sign a fresh form, the LPA route has closed. What remains is a deputyship application to the Court of Protection: the court appoints someone rather than the donor choosing, and it’s heavier — £432 per type of deputyship, £100 assessment for new deputies, £320 annual supervision (£35 for smaller estates), a security bond and ongoing reporting.

Most rejections are fixed long before capacity becomes an issue — but it's the reason not to leave the OPG's letter in a drawer, and to get an LPA in place before you think you need one.

How do you avoid a rejection in the first place?

1. Names match on every page — full legal names, dates of birth, addresses, middle names throughout.
2. Dates in sequence — Section 5 and continuation sheets, then 9, then 10, then 11.
3. Witnesses — no attorney witnessed the donor, the donor witnessed no attorney, all over 18 and in the room.
4. Certificate provider eligible — not a relative, attorney, partner, employee or care home staff.
5. Section 5 complete on an LP1H — Option A or B chosen, signed and witnessed.
6. Every page included, guidance pages and continuation sheets too.
7. Nothing forbidden — no pencil, correction fluid, un-initialled crossings-out, staples, misaligned printing.
8. Instructions read back — do they contradict your appointment type, or mix health and finance?

You can create your LPA free using the GOV.UK service or paper forms, taking responsibility for the dates and clauses yourself.

If you'd rather have reassurance, our online LPA service is £49. SimpleLPA is a legal technology provider and document preparation service — we are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Our documents are designed to solicitor standards, and every LPA is checked by a person, free, before you post it. No checking service can guarantee the OPG will register an application, but catching common errors early is what stops most of them.

What if the donor lives in Scotland or Northern Ireland?

Elsewhere in the UK, the OPG in Birmingham isn't the right registry:

• Scotland — the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland).
• Northern Ireland — enduring powers of attorney go to the Office of Care and Protection at the High Court; nidirect has the guidance.

Frequently asked questions

How long does registration take if there are no mistakes?

GOV.UK quotes 8 to 10 weeks when there are no errors, and waits have frequently run longer. The window includes a statutory waiting period during which anyone named as a person to notify can object — they have three weeks from being notified.

Do I get my £92 back if the OPG rejects my LPA?

Assume not. GOV.UK doesn't publish a refund policy; what it offers instead is a reduced £46 fee if you re-apply within 3 months. Refunds exist in limited circumstances but are decided case by case.

How will the OPG tell me there's a problem?

By letter, to the correspondence address on your form. Your application pauses rather than cancels while you respond. If the letter isn't clear, call the OPG on 0300 456 0300.

What happens to life-sustaining treatment decisions if Section 5 is filled in incorrectly?

If Section 5 on form LP1H is incomplete, conflicting, or lacks a valid witness signature, your attorneys get no power over life-sustaining decisions. Doctors then decide on clinical best interests.

Can I use a video call to witness the signing of an LPA?

No. Witnesses must be physically present, watching the pen touch the paper. An application witnessed by video call or remote stream will be rejected.

What if the donor has lost capacity before we can re-sign?

Then a new LPA can't be made, and the route is a deputyship application to the Court of Protection instead. It's slower and more expensive: £432 to apply, £100 assessment for new deputies, and annual supervision fees on top.

Can I fix a mistake after the LPA has been registered?

Not by amending it. A registered LPA can't be edited — you'd need to make and register a new one, and formally revoke the old.

What happens if I don't re-apply within the 3-month window?

You lose the reduced £46 repeat fee. You'll need to complete a new LPA form, sign everything again in sequence, and pay the full £92 government fee.

Does SimpleLPA provide legal advice or act as a law firm?

No. SimpleLPA is a legal technology provider and document preparation service — we are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Our platform is designed to solicitor standards to help you prepare your own paperwork accurately, and a person checks every LPA before you post it.

If you're ready to create your Lasting Power of Attorney, SimpleLPA guides you through the questions and has a person check your paperwork before you post it — for £49.

Sources

• Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney — GOV.UK
• LP12: Make and register your lasting power of attorney — GOV.UK
• Ten common mistakes made when creating an LPA (January 2017) — OPG blog
• Avoiding errors when completing a lasting power of attorney form (October 2023) — GOV.UK
• Object to the registration of a power of attorney — GOV.UK
• Become a deputy: fees — GOV.UK
• Office of the Public Guardian: contact — GOV.UK

Last updated 31 August 2026. This article explains published OPG and GOV.UK guidance. It is not legal advice. If the donor’s capacity is in any doubt, or your family circumstances are contested, speak to a solicitor.