Who Can Be an LPA Certificate Provider? Rules and Checklist

An LPA certificate provider is not simply another person watching you sign. They provide an independent safeguard: checking that you understand the lasting power of attorney and are making it freely. Choosing someone eligible before arranging signatures can prevent avoidable problems with registration.

This guide is for clients in England and explains the England and Wales LPA framework. It covers both property and financial affairs and health and welfare LPAs. Guidance checked on 16 September 2026.

Who can be an LPA certificate provider?

The person must be at least 18 and qualify through one of two routes. They can be someone who has known you well personally for at least two years, or someone with relevant professional skills and expertise. Either way, they must be impartial and free from the relationships that disqualify a provider.

For the personal-knowledge route, a long-standing friend, neighbour or colleague may be suitable. Merely recognising you or exchanging occasional greetings is not the same as knowing you well. Ask whether they feel able to have a genuine conversation about your decision.

For the professional route, OPG gives examples including registered healthcare professionals, solicitors, registered social workers and independent mental capacity advocates. A professional title alone is not enough: the person needs the relevant skills to make the required assessment. This route does not require two years of personal acquaintance.

Check the complete eligibility rules in OPG’s LP12 guide, section 10. If eligibility is uncertain, resolve it with OPG before signing.

Who cannot act?

Do not choose your attorney or replacement attorney, including someone appointed under another LPA or enduring power of attorney you have already made. Members of your family or an attorney’s family are excluded, including relevant in-laws and step-relatives. The exclusions also cover your unmarried partner and an attorney’s partner.

Other exclusions include your business partner or employee, and an attorney’s business partner or employee. An owner, manager, director or employee of the care home where you live, or a member of their family, cannot take the role. Nor can someone running or working for a trust corporation appointed as your financial attorney.

Someone outside those listed relationships still needs to consider the document independently. OPG’s guidance on avoiding errors emphasises impartiality: personal interests must not influence the provider’s judgement.

What does the certificate provider check?

They need to be satisfied that you understand the LPA’s significance, that you have not been pressured, that fraud is not involved and that there is no other reason for concern. They should read the relevant form sections rather than sign a page presented in isolation.

Plan time for a proper discussion. Where possible, speak privately without attorneys or other people present. Practical questions might explore who you have chosen, what decisions they would be allowed to make and why the arrangement reflects your wishes. These are discussion prompts, not answers to rehearse or a substitute for the provider’s judgement.

If you are still deciding what powers to grant, read our explanation of the two types of LPA. Where several attorneys are proposed, how they make decisions together or separately is another important point to understand.

A certificate provider is different from a witness

A witness observes a signature. A certificate provider makes the additional confirmations about understanding and freedom from pressure. One eligible person can perform both roles, but must complete the correct parts of the form for each role. Witnessing your signature does not by itself complete the certificate.

Follow the current form’s signing instructions. The donor signs first, with the required witnessing; the certificate provider then signs section 10; attorneys and replacements sign afterwards with their signatures witnessed. For a health and welfare LPA, the donor’s life-sustaining-treatment section and applicable continuation sheets require attention before section 9. Use OPG’s detailed sequence rather than passing the form around in whichever order is convenient.

What if there are concerns about capacity or pressure?

An LPA cannot be made on someone else’s behalf merely because their family agrees it would help. The donor must have capacity to make it at the relevant time and make their own choices. A diagnosis does not, by itself, answer the capacity question; equally, a fluent conversation does not necessarily establish understanding of this particular decision.

If understanding fluctuates, communication support is needed or there are concerns about coercion, pause and obtain appropriate professional advice. Do not coach answers, rush signatures or assume that a familiar person’s signature resolves the concern. A disputed or complex situation may require specialist legal and capacity advice outside routine document preparation.

Illustrative example: a trusted friend with a conflict

A donor wants a friend of ten years to certify their LPA. The friend is also an employee of the donor’s proposed attorney. Although the personal-knowledge requirement is met, the employment exclusion means this is not a suitable choice. The donor should identify another eligible, impartial person before arranging signing. This is a fictional example, not a client case.

Frequently asked questions

Does my certificate provider have to be a solicitor?

No. A qualifying person who has known you well for at least two years may act, provided the exclusions and impartiality requirements are met. Relevant professionals are an alternative, not a universal requirement.

Can I use the same provider for both LPAs?

Yes, if they are eligible for each. They must consider and complete the certificate for each separate document; signing one does not certify the other.

What if the provider has signed and there is a mistake?

Do not substitute another person on a replacement section 10 without advice. LP12 says the same certificate provider must complete that section again. Check the correction procedure before altering signed documents.

Help preparing your LPA

H.A. Law Advisory provides non-reserved LPA preparation and practical execution guidance. Enquire about our wills and LPA services for an assessment of your preparation needs. Bring details of your intended attorneys, proposed certificate provider and any existing powers of attorney. We are a paralegal practice, not a firm of solicitors, and do not conduct Court of Protection litigation or guarantee registration.

Cover photograph: S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash, used under the Unsplash licence. An illustrative empty meeting room, not H.A. Law Advisory’s premises.