Replacement Attorneys in an LPA: What Happens If a Joint Attorney Dies in England

A replacement attorney is someone named in the LPA who steps into the role if an original attorney can no longer act. This happens when an original attorney dies, loses mental capacity themselves, disclaims their appointment, becomes bankrupt or subject to a Debt Relief Order (for property and financial affairs LPAs only), or is removed by the Court of Protection.

Naming replacement attorneys is optional, but skipping it creates a significant risk. If a sole attorney can no longer act and there is no replacement, the LPA fails entirely — and the only option left is an expensive Court of Protection deputyship application.

How Replacement Attorneys Activate

Replacement attorneys do not have any authority until an original attorney's appointment ends. They are not backup decision-makers who get consulted or involved alongside the original attorneys. They wait in reserve, and their powers begin automatically when one of the triggering events occurs.

The replacement attorney must then register themselves with any institutions (banks, care homes) that were working with the original attorney. They will need to show the registered LPA and their own identification.

The Joint vs Joint-and-Several Question

How many attorneys you appoint, and how they are appointed to act, determines what happens when one of them drops out.

Joint attorneys must all act together on every decision. If one joint attorney dies or loses capacity, all the remaining joint attorneys' authority terminates — unless replacement attorneys are named. This is the riskiest arrangement because one person's death can bring the entire LPA to a halt.

Joint and several attorneys can each act independently on any decision. If one attorney dies, the remaining attorneys continue with full authority. This is the most flexible and resilient option.

Hybrid arrangements — jointly for some decisions, jointly and severally for others — are possible through Section 3 of the LPA. For example, the donor might require attorneys to act jointly for property sales above £50,000 but allow them to act jointly and severally for day-to-day banking.

How Many Attorneys Can You Have?

There is no legal maximum. Most families appoint two to four attorneys. Appointing more than four becomes unwieldy for joint decisions and can create complications with banks that are not set up to manage multiple signatories.

The practical considerations are reliability and availability. Each attorney must be over 18, must not be bankrupt or subject to a Debt Relief Order (for financial affairs LPAs), and should be someone the donor trusts to act in their best interests. Naming several attorneys with joint-and-several authority provides resilience without requiring consensus on every transaction.

Choosing Replacement Attorneys

The same eligibility rules apply to replacement attorneys as to original attorneys. They cannot be under 18, bankrupt, or subject to a Debt Relief Order (for financial LPAs). The donor should choose someone who is likely to be available and willing to step in — potentially years from now — and who understands the donor's values and wishes.

Common choices include a younger family member, a trusted friend outside the immediate family, or a professional such as a solicitor (though a solicitor will charge for their time as attorney).

The donor can use the replacement-attorney provisions in Section 4 and Continuation sheet 2 to state an order or change how multiple replacements act. If no alternative is stated, multiple replacements generally step in together; where they replace a sole attorney, they must act jointly.

What If There Are No Replacements and No Remaining Attorneys?

If all original attorneys have ceased to act and no replacement attorneys were named, the LPA is effectively dead. The donor's family must apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order — which currently costs £432 in application fees, takes 6 to 9 months, and carries ongoing annual supervision fees of £320.

This is entirely avoidable by naming at least one replacement attorney when the LPA is created. It costs nothing extra, adds no complexity to the registration process, and provides a safety net that could save the family thousands of pounds and months of court proceedings.

The Lasting Power of Attorney guide includes a comparison worksheet for choosing between joint, joint-and-several, and hybrid arrangements, along with a checklist for selecting and briefing replacement attorneys.

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