There is one fee, and three prices for it. The Office of the Public Guardian charges £92 to register a lasting power of attorney; the donor’s circumstances decide whether that becomes £46, or nothing at all. What a solicitor charges to help is a separate matter, and nobody official publishes it.
The fee, and what it covers
Applying to register an LPA costs £92, and both types together cost £184 (GOV.UK, Register a lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026). The fee is for registration, which is the step that makes the document usable; without it, GOV.UK says your attorney will not be able to make decisions for you (GOV.UK, Make a lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026).
Making the document is free in the sense that matters. The only charge GOV.UK lists for making an LPA is the £92 registration fee (GOV.UK, Register a lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026), and the LP12 guidance booklet says you do not need a lawyer to make an LPA unless you have unusual or specific requirements (GOV.UK, LP12 guide, checked 1 November 2026). Our forms page covers what the two forms are and the signing order that gets applications rejected.
Paying online through the OPG’s Make an LPA service is the quickest way to pay. On the paper form you can choose card or cheque, and if you choose card and give a mobile number, the OPG texts a link to its online payment portal, which it says is the quickest way if you are not using the online service (GOV.UK, LP12 guide, checked 1 November 2026).
When it is free
The donor pays nothing if they receive certain means-tested benefits, and the first on the list is the one this site spends most of its time on. Form LPA120 names the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026).
Local Housing Allowance and Working Tax Credit with certain elements are on the list too.
Two conditions sit on that. The exemption is lost if the donor has been awarded personal injury damages of more than £16,000 that were ignored when the benefit was assessed. And the evidence has to go in with the LPA itself, for the correct financial year, showing the donor’s name and address and the amount received (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026).
For Guarantee Credit the OPG wants a full breakdown that specifies the guaranteed element, not a letter that says only “Pension Credit”. If you are on the Savings Credit part alone, this exemption does not apply. Our Pension Credit guide explains the two parts, and the what unlocks what tool now lists this fee among the things Guarantee Credit carries with it.
When it is half
A donor whose annual income before tax is £12,000 or less pays half: £46 for each LPA, or £92 for both (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026). The test is income, not savings, so a donor with money in the bank but a small pension can still qualify, and the form lists exactly what counts.
What counts includes things people do not expect. Non-means-tested benefits such as Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment are listed as income for this test, alongside State, private and occupational pensions, earnings, self-employment, interest and dividends, rent, and money from a lodger or relative (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026). So Attendance Allowance moves you towards the £12,000 line without ever qualifying you for the free option above.
The evidence is specific: three consecutive payslips, a P60 or pension letter, an official letter from the benefit payer. Bank statements alone are not accepted as proof of income, and a donor with no income at all sends a signed statement explaining how they support themselves (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026).
If neither applies but paying would cause hardship
There is a third route, and it is not a box on the form. The LPA120 says that if the donor qualifies for neither exemption nor remission but paying would cause financial hardship, you can write to the OPG asking for a reduction, sending the request with the LPA and the LPA120 (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026).
A refused application can be reviewed. The same form says that if you have reason to believe a rejection was wrong, you can request a review of the decision.
What a rejected form costs
A form the OPG cannot register is returned, and the cost of that turns on timing. Depending on the type of mistake, GOV.UK says the OPG may let you correct it and apply again within 3 months for £46 (GOV.UK, Register a lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026). With a fee remission the repeat application is £23 (GOV.UK, LPA120, checked 10 September 2026).
The repeat application needs the case number from the letter that came back with the form, written in section 14 (GOV.UK, LP12 guide, checked 10 September 2026). Miss the three months and it is a new application at the full fee. The mistakes that cause returns are set out on our forms page; the OPG says correction fluid alone can mean paying the fee again.
What a solicitor charges
Nobody official publishes this figure, and any number you see online is one firm’s price list or one survey. What can be said with a source is narrower: the OPG’s own guide says you do not need a lawyer unless you have unusual or specific requirements (GOV.UK, LP12 guide, checked 10 September 2026).
The same guide adds that it is up to you whether you want legal advice on particular sections.
If you do pay, two things are worth checking on the quote. Whether the £92 registration fee per LPA is included or added on top, since it is payable to the OPG either way. And whether the price is for one LPA or both, because the forms are separate applications and a firm’s headline figure is often for one.
The situations where the OPG itself suggests advice are the ones our forms page lists: instructions that go beyond the ordinary, attorneys appointed to act jointly for some decisions and separately for others, and anything involving property outside England and Wales.
Other fees you may meet later
Registration is the only fee for making an LPA, but two others exist around it. An office copy of a registered LPA from the OPG costs £35 (GOV.UK, Register a lasting power of attorney, checked 10 September 2026). You can avoid that by certifying copies yourself while you still have capacity, which GOV.UK sets out and which costs nothing.
The other is the cost of not making one at all. If someone has already lost the capacity to make an LPA, the route is a deputyship through the Court of Protection: a £432 application fee, paid twice for both types of deputy, £266 more if the court decides a hearing is needed, a possible security bond, and a supervision fee every year after appointment (GOV.UK, Deputies: make decisions for someone who lacks capacity: Fees, checked 1 November 2026). That comparison, £92 against £432 and an annual fee, is the strongest argument for doing this while it is still possible.
Where to start
If you are not sure which form you need, or whether you qualify for the reduced fee, our which form do I need tool asks five questions and tells you the form, the fee, and the page to read next. Nothing leaves your browser. If you already know, the LP1F and LP1H walkthroughs take each form section by section.