Wills vs LPAs vs Deputyship: What's the Difference, and Which Do You Need?

These three come up constantly in later-life care, and families mix them up all the time, often at the worst possible moment. They sound similar, they're all filled in on official-looking forms, and they all involve the phrase "if you're ever unable to." But they cover completely different situations, different timings, and different costs.

This guide lays out exactly what each one does, when it applies, and which ones you actually need.

The one-sentence version

A Will only works after someone has died. A Lasting Power of Attorney only works while someone is alive but has lost the ability to make decisions. Deputyship is the fallback route through the Court of Protection when capacity has already been lost and there's no LPA in place.

None of them overlap. None of them substitute for each other. Most families end up needing at least two.

Wills

A will only has legal force once you've died. Right up until that point, it does nothing at all, it doesn't help anyone make decisions on your behalf while you're alive, however unwell you are. That's a common misconception worth clearing up early: a will and an LPA are not different versions of the same thing. They cover entirely different periods of time.

A straightforward solicitor-drafted will in the UK typically costs £150 to £300. DIY kits exist for less, but mistakes in wording or witnessing can make a will invalid, and nobody finds out until it's too late to fix.

If someone dies without a will, their estate is distributed under the UK's intestacy rules rather than their actual wishes. For England and Wales, a surviving spouse or civil partner with children receives all personal possessions, the first £322,000 of the estate, and half of anything above that, with children splitting the remainder. If there's no spouse, it passes to children, then parents, then siblings, in a fixed legal order.

The detail that catches people out most: unmarried partners inherit nothing automatically under intestacy, no matter how many decades they've lived together. Stepchildren inherit nothing unless they were legally adopted. If your family situation doesn't match the traditional married-with-biological-children pattern, having a will isn't optional, it's the only way to protect the people you actually want protected.

After a death, whether or not there was a will, someone usually needs to apply for probate (or "Letters of Administration" if there's no will) before banks and other institutions will release the deceased's assets. The probate application fee in England and Wales rose from £300 to £526 on 13 July 2026.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

An LPA lets someone you trust make decisions on your behalf while you're alive, if you're ever unable to make them yourself. It has to be set up while you still have mental capacity, once that's gone, it's too late to make one.

We've got a full, dedicated guide covering everything about LPAs, how they work, the two types, choosing an attorney, and what happens when someone dies. Read the full LPA guide →

Deputyship

If someone has already lost mental capacity and never set up an LPA, family can no longer simply step in, not even a spouse, not even a child. The only legal route left is applying to the Court of Protection to become that person's Deputy.

This is genuinely the harder path. The current court application fee is £371, and if the court appoints you, there's also an ongoing annual supervision fee to the Office of the Public Guardian, either £35 for minimal supervision (if you're managing less than £21,000 in assets) or £320 for general supervision for everything above that. Using a solicitor to handle the application typically adds £950 or more.

Timescale-wise, this commonly takes six to twelve months, sometimes longer for contested or complex cases, compared to a matter of weeks for an LPA. And crucially, you don't get to choose who's appointed. The court decides, based on who applies and what's in the person's best interests.

The honest comparison: an LPA costs a fraction of what Deputyship costs, takes a fraction of the time, and lets you choose who's in charge in advance. Deputyship exists as a safety net for families who need it, but it's genuinely the harder, slower, more expensive route. If there's still time to set up an LPA instead, that time is worth using.

So which do you actually need?

If everyone involved still has full mental capacity, the priority is straightforward: set up an LPA (covers life) and a will (covers after death), ideally both at the same time, since they're addressing two different risks that can arrive without warning.

If capacity has already been lost and there's no LPA in place, Deputyship is the only remaining legal route, and given the timescales involved, it's worth starting that application as early as possible rather than waiting.

Either way, once someone has died, probate is usually needed to access their estate, will or no will.

A word from The Care Compass

Wills, LPAs and Deputyship all came up in our own family's journey, at different times, for different reasons, and it took a while to properly understand which one applied when. If you're at the start of this, the earlier you can sort an LPA and a will, the less you'll be dealing with under pressure later.

This article is for guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a qualified solicitor for advice specific to your situation.

You don’t have to navigate it alone.