LPA People to Notify in Wales: Who Should Know?

What "People to Notify" Means

When you create a Lasting Power of Attorney, you can name up to five individuals as "people to notify." These are not attorneys and they have no ongoing powers. Their role is narrow but important: the OPG contacts them during the mandatory 4-week objection period after you submit the LPA for registration. They receive a formal notice telling them the LPA exists and giving them the opportunity to raise concerns.

This is a safeguarding mechanism. The people you notify act as an independent check — if they believe you were pressured into creating the LPA, lacked capacity when you signed it, or that an attorney is unsuitable, they can raise a formal objection that the OPG must investigate before completing registration.

Who Should You Name?

The OPG recommends choosing people who:

• Know you well enough to recognise if something is wrong
• Are not appointed as attorneys or replacement attorneys on the same LPA
• Are independent enough to raise genuine concerns without being intimidated

Common choices include: a sibling who is not an attorney, a close friend, a trusted neighbour, or another family member. They do not need to live in Wales or the UK.

Naming no one is allowed — the LPA form does not require any people to notify. But leaving this section blank removes a layer of protection. If you have chosen not to name anyone, you must instead have a certificate provider, which is already mandatory. The certificate provider and the people to notify serve complementary roles: the certificate provider confirms capacity and freedom from pressure at the time of signing; the people to notify provide a second window of scrutiny before registration becomes final.

What Happens During the Objection Period

When the OPG receives your completed LPA application, they send a formal notification letter to each person you named. The letter explains what an LPA is, identifies the donor and attorneys, and gives the recipient 4 weeks (28 days) to raise an objection.

Objections can be raised on two grounds:

Factual grounds — the donor has died since signing, an attorney has died, the donor and a spouse-attorney have divorced, or an attorney on a financial LPA is bankrupt. These are straightforward factual checks.

Prescribed grounds — the donor lacked capacity when signing, fraud or undue pressure was involved, or the LPA contains terms that are inconsistent with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

If nobody raises an objection within 28 days, the OPG proceeds with its final casework review and registers the LPA. If an objection is raised, the OPG pauses registration and investigates. Depending on the nature and seriousness of the objection, this can add weeks or months to the process — in contested cases, the matter may be referred to the Court of Protection.

Can People to Notify Block Registration?

Not easily. A factual objection with evidence (a death certificate, a bankruptcy order) can prevent registration until the issue is resolved. But a prescribed-ground objection requires the OPG to investigate and make a determination. Vague concerns without evidence are unlikely to block registration, though they will cause delays while the OPG satisfies itself.

The system is designed to catch genuine problems, not to give disgruntled family members a veto. An estranged sibling who objects because they disagree with the donor's choice of attorney — rather than because they have evidence of coercion or incapacity — will not succeed in blocking a properly executed LPA.

Practical Advice

Name at least one person to notify. The safeguarding value is real, the cost is zero (no additional fee for naming people to notify), and the only consequence is a 4-week waiting period that applies regardless of whether you name anyone or not.

Choose someone who would genuinely speak up if they thought something was wrong — not someone who will rubber-stamp anything to avoid family conflict. And tell the people you name what to expect: they will receive a letter from the OPG, it is not a cause for alarm, and their role is simply to confirm they have no concerns.

Our Wales LPA toolkit includes a notification planning template that helps you choose the right people and prepare them for the OPG's letter.

See more Wales guides →