How to Avoid LPA Rejection by the OPG in England

If you are filing a Lasting Power of Attorney for the first time, the single most useful thing you can do is work through a structured signing sequence checklist before you submit. The OPG has reported that roughly 15% of LPA applications contain mistakes, and many of those mistakes are caused by a small set of procedural errors — not legal mistakes, not complex drafting problems, but simple sequencing and eligibility errors that a pre-submission checklist catches in seconds. Every rejection wastes the £92 registration fee and restarts the 8–10 week processing clock — a cost that families facing a closing capacity window cannot afford.

The good news is that these errors are entirely preventable. They are not ambiguous judgment calls. They are mechanical failures in a prescribed process, and a guide that tracks the sequence eliminates them.

The Six Errors That Cause Most Rejections

1. Signing Sequence Violation

This is the single most common cause of LPA rejection. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and OPG registration requirements impose a strict chronological order:

1. Donor completes the applicable Section 5 and any required continuation sheets, then signs Section 9, witnessed by an independent adult
2. Certificate provider signs Section 10 (must be after the donor's signature date)
3. Attorneys and replacement attorneys sign Section 11, each witnessed by an independent adult
4. Applicant signs Section 15 after all attorneys have signed

If any signature is dated before the one that should precede it — even by a single day — the entire LPA is void. The OPG will reject the application, the £92 fee is lost, and you must start again with fresh forms.

This error catches families who gather everyone in a room and sign simultaneously. The dates must reflect the correct sequence. If the donor signs on Monday, the certificate provider cannot sign until Monday or later. If the certificate provider signs on Tuesday, the attorneys cannot sign until Tuesday or later.

How to prevent it: Use a signing tracker worksheet that lists every signatory, their required section, and the chronological constraints. Date each signature on the day it actually happens. Do not backdate or forward-date.

2. Ineligible Certificate Provider

The certificate provider must be either a professional (solicitor, doctor, social worker, or other registered professional) or someone who has known the donor personally for at least two years and is not a family member, an attorney named in the LPA, or an employee of a care home where the donor lives.

Common disqualifications:

• A family friend who has known the donor for only 18 months
• The donor's GP who is also a named attorney's spouse
• An employee of the care home where the donor resides
• A business partner of a named attorney

How to prevent it: The certificate provider's eligibility is checkable before the signing day. A preparation sheet that lists the disqualification criteria lets you verify your chosen person qualifies before anyone signs anything.

3. Unworkable Section 7 Preferences or Instructions

Section 7 is where the donor can add preferences (non-binding wishes) and instructions (binding restrictions) for their attorneys. The OPG will reject an LPA if the instructions are legally impossible, contradictory, or so restrictive that the attorney cannot practically function.

Examples that trigger rejection:

• An instruction requiring all three joint attorneys to agree on every decision, combined with a replacement attorney clause that only activates when one attorney cannot act (the attorney cannot act if they must always agree with the others)
• An instruction referencing a document that does not exist or a law that has been repealed
• Preferences and instructions that contradict each other

How to prevent it: Most families do not need complex Section 7 content. Simple preferences ("I would like my attorneys to consult my children before making care decisions") are safe. If you need binding restrictions, check each instruction against the OPG's published guidance on unworkable clauses. A guide that covers Section 7 pitfalls is cheaper than discovering the problem via a rejected application.

4. Witness Eligibility Errors

Witnesses to the donor's signature and the attorneys' signatures must be independent adults (18 or older). The witness cannot be the donor when witnessing an attorney's signature, and an attorney cannot witness the donor's signature. The certificate provider can witness the donor's signature (and often does), but this is a separate role from their Section 10 certification.

The error that catches people: naming an attorney as the witness for the donor's signature, or having the donor witness their own attorney's signature.

How to prevent it: A witness eligibility checklist that maps each signatory to their eligible witness pool. The rules are simple once they are laid out; they just need to be in front of you at the signing ceremony.

5. Form Completion Errors

The OPG is strict about form presentation:

• Correction fluid (Tipp-Ex) on a paper form can cause rejection
• Crossings-out must be initialled by the person who made the correction
• All signatures must be in black ink
• No photocopied signatures — every signature must be original
• Missing pages or sections in a paper submission

How to prevent it: Use the OPG's online tool where possible (it prevents some form errors automatically). If using paper forms, complete them in pencil first, verify every field, then trace over in black ink. Never use correction fluid.

6. Fee Remission Documentation Failure

Since February 2026, fee remission applications must be submitted simultaneously with the LPA. If Form LPA120 arrives after the LPA application, the full £92 applies and cannot be recovered. The OPG also rejects remission applications where the evidence does not match the declared benefits or where the gross annual income exceeds £12,000 for Universal Credit claimants.

How to prevent it: Prepare the LPA120 and supporting evidence before you complete the LPA form. Submit them together with the LPA application. The guide's fee remission evidence checklist covers every qualifying benefit and the documents needed to prove each one.

The Pre-Submission Verification Sequence

Before posting or submitting your LPA, verify these items in order:

1. Donor's required sections (including the applicable Section 5 and any required continuation sheets) are signed, then Section 9 is dated and witnessed by an eligible person
2. Certificate provider's Section 10 is signed and dated on or after the donor's signing date
3. Every attorney and replacement attorney's Section 11 is signed, dated (on or after the certificate provider's date), and witnessed by an eligible person
4. Applicant's Section 15 is signed and dated on or after the final attorney's signature
5. Form LP3 (if applicable) has been sent to each person to notify before or at the same time as submission
6. No witness is also a signatory in a prohibited combination
7. Section 7 contains no instructions that contradict each other or make the attorney role impossible
8. No correction fluid anywhere on the form; all corrections are initialled
9. Fee remission form (if applicable) is enclosed with supporting evidence
10. Registration fee (cheque or online payment reference) is included

If every item checks out, the application is mechanically sound. The OPG may still query unusual Section 7 content, but the common procedural rejection reasons are addressed.

What Happens If Your LPA Is Rejected

If the OPG rejects your application:

• The £92 registration fee is not refunded
• You must submit a completely new application with fresh forms
• The 8–10 week processing clock restarts from zero
• If the donor's capacity has deteriorated during the wait, you may no longer be able to file an LPA at all

This is why prevention matters more than cure. A £92 rejection is not just a financial loss — it is a time loss that families with a declining parent cannot recover.

Who This Is For

• First-time LPA filers who want to submit a clean application on the first attempt
• Families where the donor's capacity is declining and there is no room for a rejected-and-resubmit cycle
• DIY applicants who are working from the OPG forms without a solicitor
• Anyone who has already had an LPA rejected and wants to understand exactly what went wrong

Who This Is NOT For

• People using a solicitor who handles the form completion and submission
• Families whose LPA has already been registered and accepted
• Applicants in Scotland (which uses a different system) or Northern Ireland

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the OPG tell you exactly why an LPA was rejected?

Yes. The OPG sends a letter specifying the rejection reason and what needs to be corrected. However, you cannot fix the existing application — you must submit a new one with fresh forms. Depending on the mistake, the OPG may allow you to correct it and apply again within three months for £46; otherwise, the standard £92 fee applies.

Can I appeal an OPG rejection?

There is no formal appeal process for procedural rejections. If you believe the rejection was wrong (for example, you disagree with the OPG's interpretation of a Section 7 instruction), you can contact the OPG to discuss it. But for signing-sequence violations and eligibility errors, the rejection is final — a new application is the only path.

Is the online LPA tool less error-prone than paper forms?

Yes, the OPG's online tool prevents some errors automatically — it will not let you skip mandatory fields, and it enforces basic logic checks. However, the signing sequence still involves physical signatures that happen outside the digital system. The online tool does not verify that your certificate provider is eligible or that signatures were dated in the correct order. Those checks still require a human-level review.

How long does it take to prepare a second application after rejection?

The form completion can be redone in a day if you know what went wrong. The coordination — gathering signatories, scheduling the certificate provider discussion, arranging witnesses — typically takes another one to two weeks. Then you are back to 8–10 weeks of OPG processing.

The Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) guide includes a chronological signing sequence tracker, certificate provider preparation sheet, and pre-submission verification checklist designed to prevent every common rejection reason on the first attempt.

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