How to Revoke a Lasting Power of Attorney in England
When You Can Revoke
A donor can revoke a Lasting Power of Attorney at any time, provided they still have mental capacity to make that decision. The LPA does not need to have been used for it to be revoked — it can be cancelled immediately after registration or years later.
The key requirement is capacity. If the donor has already lost the mental capacity to understand the nature and effect of revoking the LPA, they cannot revoke it themselves. In those circumstances, only the Court of Protection can revoke or vary an LPA, and only on specific grounds (fraud, undue pressure, or the attorney acting against the donor's best interests).
How to Revoke a Registered LPA
The process depends on whether the LPA has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.
For a registered LPA, the donor must execute a formal deed of revocation. This is a short legal document that states the donor's intention to revoke the LPA, identifies the LPA being revoked (by type and registration date), and is signed by the donor in the presence of a witness. The witness signs to confirm they saw the donor sign.
The completed deed of revocation must then be sent to the OPG, which will update its register and cancel the LPA. The OPG does not charge a fee for processing a revocation.
The donor should also notify the attorneys in writing that the LPA has been revoked. While this is not a strict legal requirement (the revocation takes effect when the deed is executed, not when the attorneys are told), it prevents the former attorneys from unknowingly acting on powers they no longer hold — which could create complications for everyone involved.
For an unregistered LPA, the donor can revoke it simply by destroying the document or by giving written notice to the attorneys. No deed of revocation or OPG notification is needed, because the LPA was never on the register. However, putting the revocation in writing and keeping a copy is good practice.
Notifying Third Parties
After revoking a registered LPA, the donor should contact any organisation that was using the LPA — banks, care homes, pension providers, the GP surgery — and inform them that the LPA is no longer valid. If the attorney was using the Use an LPA digital service to share access codes, those codes will stop working once the OPG processes the revocation.
Banks that have completed their own internal LPA registration process will need to be told separately to remove the attorney's access. The OPG cancellation does not automatically cascade to every institution that has registered the LPA in its own systems.
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Can an Attorney Resign Instead?
Yes. An attorney who no longer wishes to act can disclaim the appointment by completing form LPA005. If the LPA is registered, the attorney sends the completed form to the donor, the OPG, and any other attorneys; the OPG updates the register.
If the LPA named replacement attorneys, the replacement steps into the role automatically. If no replacement was named and the remaining arrangement does not allow the LPA to continue (for example, a jointly-appointed pair where one resigns), the LPA may become inoperative, and the donor would need to create a new one.
Creating a New LPA After Revocation
If the donor revokes their existing LPA and wants to appoint different attorneys or change the terms, they need to create and register an entirely new LPA from scratch. There is no mechanism to amend a registered LPA — any change, however small, requires a new document and a new £92 registration fee.
This means the donor should think carefully before revoking. If the issue is with one attorney's behaviour, and replacement attorneys were named, it may be possible to report the problem to the OPG, which can investigate and apply to the Court of Protection to remove the attorney, rather than revoking the entire LPA.
Our Lasting Power of Attorney guide covers the full lifecycle of an LPA, from creation through to revocation and replacement, including the specific forms and letter templates needed at each stage.
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