An uncle with the power of attorney is spending a mother’s money on things she will never see, and the other children are told it is none of their business. It is their business. The law sets out what an attorney may do, a public body exists to investigate when they step outside it, and anyone can pick up the phone.
What the law requires of an attorney
GOV.UK’s guidance for attorneys is a list of duties. An attorney must act in the donor’s best interests and help them make their own decisions where possible. They must keep the donor’s money and property separate from their own, unless they already share an account. They must keep records of their actions.
They must also give the Office of the Public Guardian information about how the power is being used if asked (GOV.UK, Manage a lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026).
The same guidance says an attorney must not use the position to benefit themselves, and that they can be ordered to repay the donor’s money if they misuse it or make decisions to benefit themselves (GOV.UK, Manage a lasting power of attorney: attorney records and duties, checked 1 November 2026). Our LP1F page describes what a property and financial affairs attorney is actually appointed to do.
Gifts have a legal limit
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets the boundary. An attorney may make gifts on customary occasions to people related to or connected with the donor, or to a charity the donor gave to or might have given to. Each gift’s value must not be unreasonable given all the circumstances and the size of the donor’s estate.
That is section 12 of the Act (Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 12, checked 1 November 2026).
A customary occasion means a birthday, a wedding or civil partnership, or an anniversary of one, and occasions when families customarily give presents. The Office of the Public Guardian’s gifts guidance says that for a gift outside those limits the attorney must apply to the Court of Protection for approval. It defines a gift as moving ownership of money, property or possessions from the person whose affairs you manage to yourself or someone else (OPG, Giving gifts, checked 1 November 2026). Luxuries for the attorney are not gifts on customary occasions.
Report it to the Office of the Public Guardian
GOV.UK says to report a concern if you think an attorney is not acting in the person’s best interests or is using money or property in the wrong way. Not doing the job properly, abusing the position and not following the legal rules of the role are on the same list.
Anyone can report, including family members, friends and professionals, and you can report a concern even if it does not affect you directly (GOV.UK, Report a concern about an attorney, deputy or guardian, checked 1 November 2026).
The safeguarding unit is on 0300 456 0300, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Wednesday from 10am, at opg.safeguardingunit@publicguardian.gov.uk, or by post to Office of the Public Guardian, PO Box 16185, Birmingham B2 2WH. It wants your name and contact details, what has happened, and dates, amounts of money or examples. GOV.UK says the OPG will not tell the attorney where the report has come from.
What the OPG and the court can do
GOV.UK says the OPG will decide whether it is allowed by law to investigate, and that it might take legal action or apply to the Court of Protection (GOV.UK, Report a concern about an attorney, deputy or guardian, checked 1 November 2026). Its guidance for banks adds that it can ask the court to order an attorney to provide evidence of their decisions.
That order is the route to the accounts a relative cannot demand directly.
A report does not establish misuse. The OPG decides whether to investigate, and an attorney who has kept the records GOV.UK requires can show them. An attorney who believes a gift or a shared account was within the rules can say so to the OPG directly, and the records are the evidence either way.
The court’s power is in the Act. Where an attorney has behaved, or is behaving, in a way that contravenes their authority or is not in the donor’s best interests, the Court of Protection may revoke the lasting power of attorney. That applies where the donor lacks the capacity to revoke it themselves (Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 22, checked 1 November 2026). If the attorney is removed and nobody else is named, our deputyship page covers what replaces them. Where the concern is a sale of the donor’s home, our selling the donor’s assets page sets out what an attorney may and may not do.
If the donor still has capacity
The donor does not need the OPG’s help to end it. GOV.UK says you can end your lasting power of attorney yourself if you have the mental capacity to make that decision. You sign a deed of revocation, a short document in GOV.UK’s words, and send it to the OPG with the LPA (GOV.UK, End your lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026).
GOV.UK says a donor can ask the OPG to remove one attorney if the LPA is registered and they still have capacity (GOV.UK, Removing an attorney, checked 1 November 2026). Where attorneys were appointed to act jointly, GOV.UK says they cannot make a decision unless all agree, so ask the OPG what removing one does to the rest.
Capacity is decision-specific: the Mental Capacity Act asks whether a person can make a particular decision at the time it needs making (Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 2, checked 1 November 2026). A donor who cannot manage a bank account may still be able to decide to revoke a power. If there is doubt, the OPG route above does not depend on the donor’s capacity at all.
If the power is not registered yet
A lasting power of attorney does nothing until it is registered, and the people named to be told get three weeks to object. GOV.UK says you can make a factual objection, on form LPA007, or an objection on prescribed grounds, which include an attorney acting against the donor’s best interests.
Prescribed-grounds objections go on form LPA008 to the OPG and COP7 to the court (GOV.UK, Lasting power of attorney, checked 1 November 2026), and the regulations say the court application must be made within 3 weeks of the notice of registration being given (SI 2007/1253, regulation 15, checked 26 October 2026).
Our forms page explains the people to notify and why the choice of them matters at exactly this moment.
The police, and the council
Taking a donor’s money is not only a breach of duty. The Fraud Act 2006 makes it fraud by abuse of position to dishonestly abuse a position in which you are expected to safeguard the financial interests of another person, intending to make a gain (Fraud Act 2006, section 4, checked 1 November 2026).
The OPG’s guidance for banks says that if you think a crime has been committed against someone who cannot make their own decisions, dial 101.
The national fraud reporting service, Report Fraud, takes reports on 0300 123 2040 (GOV.UK, Staying safe from scammers, checked 1 November 2026). The council has a duty too. Where an adult with care and support needs is experiencing or at risk of abuse, including financial abuse, and cannot protect themselves, the Care Act 2014 requires the local authority to make whatever enquiries it thinks necessary (Care Act 2014, section 42, checked 1 November 2026). Adult social care safeguarding teams are the door.
Banks are expected to act
An attorney’s bank is not a bystander. Guidance written by the OPG with the Financial Conduct Authority and other regulators tells staff to contact the OPG if they have concerns about anyone acting on behalf of a donor. The misuse of money is on its list of concerns to raise.
It names decisions that benefit an attorney instead of the donor as another (OPG and regulators, Supporting customers who may not be able to make their own decisions, checked 1 November 2026). A relative who has seen the statements can say so to the bank as well as to the OPG.
If it is a deputy rather than an attorney
The same report route covers deputies, and deputies are watched more closely. GOV.UK says a deputy is supervised by the Office of the Public Guardian, and that if they fail to meet its standards the OPG might ask the court to stop them being a deputy (GOV.UK, Deputies, checked 1 November 2026).
GOV.UK says a deputy must send an annual deputy report to the OPG each year explaining the decisions they have made (GOV.UK, Deputies: make decisions for someone who lacks capacity: Overview, checked 1 November 2026), which an attorney need not.