LPA Signing Sequence Rules UK

The Sequence Is Not a Suggestion

The Office of the Public Guardian will reject an LPA if the signatures are not in the correct chronological order. This is not a discretionary check — caseworkers verify the dates on each section, and a single out-of-order signature invalidates the entire application.

A rejected LPA means restarting from scratch: fresh forms, a new £92 registration fee, and the processing clock resetting to zero. For a family where the donor's capacity is declining, that delay can be the difference between a valid LPA and a Court of Protection deputyship.

The core sequence is the same for both types of LPA, but a Health and Welfare LPA also has a Section 5 donor signature before Section 9.

The Four Steps in Exact Order

Step 1: The Donor Signs the Relevant Donor Sections

The donor (the person creating the LPA) signs first. For a Health and Welfare LPA, the donor signs and has a witness sign Section 5, then signs and has a witness sign Section 9. For a Property and Financial Affairs LPA, the donor signs and has a witness sign Section 9 first. The witness must be an adult aged 18 or over who is not a named attorney or replacement attorney; the certificate provider may act as the witness.

Everything else flows from this date. No other signature can predate the donor's.

Step 2: The Certificate Provider Signs Section 10

The certificate provider confirms that the donor understands the LPA, is not being pressured, and has the mental capacity to make this decision. They must sign on the same day as the donor or on any later date — never before the donor signs.

The certificate provider must be either:

• A professional: solicitor, barrister, GP, registered healthcare professional, or registered social worker
• A personal contact who has known the donor for at least two years (but not a family member, any named attorney, an employee of a care home where the donor lives, or a business partner of the donor or any attorney)

Step 3: Each Attorney and Replacement Attorney Signs Section 11

Every named attorney and replacement attorney signs their acceptance of the appointment. Each signature must be witnessed by an adult; the donor cannot witness an attorney's signature, but another attorney or replacement attorney can.

The critical rule: no attorney can sign Section 11 before the certificate provider has signed and dated Section 10. This is where most rejected LPAs fail. Families often gather everyone on the same day and sign in whatever order feels convenient. If an attorney signs at 2 PM but the certificate provider signs at 3 PM, the dates may not reflect this, and if the OPG determines the order was wrong, the entire LPA is invalid.

Step 4: The Applicant Signs the Registration Page

The person submitting the LPA for registration (usually the donor, but sometimes an attorney) signs last. This administrative signature does not need a witness, but it must post-date all other signatures.

The Dates Are What Matter

The OPG checks dates, not timestamps. If everyone signs on the same day, the dates will all be identical, and the OPG will accept the application as long as the sections are completed in order. The risk arises when signatures happen on different days — if the certificate provider's date is later than an attorney's date, the application will be rejected.

Best practice: have the donor and certificate provider sign on the same day (with the donor signing first), then have attorneys sign on the same day or any subsequent day. Record the date precisely. If you use a signing ceremony with everyone present, sign in strict order and use the same date throughout.

The Witness Rules That Compound the Problem

The donor's and attorneys' signing steps require witnesses, and the eligibility rules are specific:

• The donor's witness (Section 5 or Section 9): any adult aged 18 or over. Attorneys and replacement attorneys cannot witness the donor's signature; the certificate provider may do so.
• The certificate provider (Section 10): no witness is required for this section.
• Each attorney's witness (Section 11): any adult aged 18 or over. The donor cannot witness, but another attorney or replacement attorney can. The same person can witness multiple attorneys' signatures if they are not otherwise disqualified.

One practical solution: bring a single eligible friend or neighbour to the signing ceremony who serves as witness for both the donor and all attorneys. They must meet the eligibility rules for each signature they witness.

If the OPG Rejects Your Application

If the LPA is rejected for a signing sequence error, you cannot simply re-date the existing forms. The entire document must be re-executed from scratch with new forms. The £92 fee applies again (unless the OPG agrees this was their error, which is rare for sequence violations).

If the donor's capacity is declining, an OPG rejection creates an urgent problem. The family may need to fast-track a new application or, if capacity has already been lost, apply to the Court of Protection for a deputyship order — a process that costs significantly more and takes considerably longer.

Our England Advance Directive guide includes a printable LPA signing tracker that enforces the correct sequence, lists witness eligibility for each step, and provides a single-page signing-day checklist to prevent the errors that cause most OPG rejections.

See more England guides →