How to register an Enduring Power of Attorney (form EP2PG)
EP2PG is the OPG's application to register an Enduring Power of Attorney made before October 2007 — needed once the donor is losing capacity.
This walkthrough covers both stages: the EP1PG notice you must serve first, on the donor and at least three relatives, and the twelve Parts of EP2PG itself, which goes to the OPG as soon as those notices have been given.
✓ Updated 2026 · verified against GOV.UK
In design
United Kingdom·Informational, not legal or financial advice·Verified against GOV.UK, 2026
This walkthrough takes registration the way it actually happens: EP1PG notice first, then EP2PG itself, Part by Part — because the two forms and the 5-week objection window are one process, not two separate ones.
The 5-week clock runs from the LAST notice given, not the first
If notices to the donor, relatives, and any non-applying co-attorney go out on different dates, the objection window doesn't close until 5 weeks after the LAST one is served — not the first. Send EP2PG itself as soon as the notices have gone, but expect registration to wait on that final notice's window — one straggling envelope delays the whole thing.
The second trap is human, not procedural: nothing required the donor ever to tell their relatives the EPA existed, so for many families EP1PG is genuinely the first they hear of it — worth a phone call before the envelope lands, not just posting cold.
The form, in summary
Valoren
EP2PG·7 pages·12 fields guided
With ValorenEP1PG and EP2PG become a copying-out job once the Civil Dossier and People, Authority & Contacts records hold the attorney appointment and every relative's name and current address — minutes of transcription, not a research project. The 35-day objection window still runs regardless — nothing shortens that.
Without ValorenSeveral hours across two stages — completing EP1PG, serving it on the donor and at least three relatives, then completing and posting EP2PG as soon as the notices have gone
Deadline
35 daysobjection window from the last EP1PG notice — OPG waits it out
Who Files
The attorney(s)or a solicitor acting on their behalf
£
Fee
£92£46 if income under £12k/yr; free on qualifying benefits
An Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) is the predecessor to today's Lasting Power of Attorney. New EPAs could only be made before 1 October 2007, when the Mental Capacity Act 2005 replaced them with LPAs — but a validly made EPA continues to be legally effective today, preserved by Schedule 4 to that Act.
An EPA can be used by the attorney for ordinary financial matters even before the donor loses capacity — but the moment the donor is losing, or has lost, mental capacity, the EPA MUST be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before the attorney can carry on acting under it. Using an unregistered EPA once the donor has started to lose capacity takes the attorney outside their legal authority — it isn't simply a paperwork gap.
Registration is a two-step process. First, form EP1PG gives formal notice of the intention to register to the donor and to a prescribed class of relatives, in a fixed order of priority (MCA 2005 Sch.4 para 6(1)) — at least three people must be notified (or everyone who qualifies, if fewer than three relatives exist). Anyone notified then has 5 weeks from their notice to object to the Public Guardian on one of five specified legal grounds. EP2PG itself is sent as soon as the notices have been given — the Public Guardian then holds the application while that 5-week window runs, and cannot complete registration while a valid objection stands.
An EPA covers property and financial affairs only — there was never an equivalent EPA for health and welfare decisions. If health and welfare authority is needed, a fresh Health & Welfare LPA has to be made separately, and only while the donor still has capacity to make one.
·Who Files — The attorney(s) named in the Enduring Power of Attorney, or a solicitor acting for them. The donor does not complete or sign this form.
·7 pages · 12 fields guided
·Draws from your Estate File — Civil Dossier, Legal Instruments, People, Authority & Contacts
Section01
§11
Section 1
Before you start — is EP2PG the right form?
EP2PG only applies to a genuine pre-2007 EPA — and only an attorney actually named on it can apply. Getting this right first avoids weeks lost to the wrong process.
01
What an EPA actually is
An Enduring Power of Attorney is the predecessor to today's Lasting Power of Attorney. New EPAs stopped being made on 1 October 2007, when the Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduced LPAs instead — but an EPA made validly before that date remains legally effective today.
If your family has an EPA rather than an LPA, it's simply because it predates the 2007 change, not because anything was done incorrectly.
02
When registration becomes compulsory
An attorney can use an EPA for ordinary transactions while the donor still has full capacity.
The moment the donor is losing, or has lost, mental capacity to manage their own affairs, the EPA MUST be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before the attorney can continue acting — using an unregistered EPA past that point takes the attorney outside their legal authority.
03
If there's no EPA — or the wrong kind
EP2PG only applies to a genuine EPA made before October 2007. If your family member never made one, or the document has been lost and can't be produced, EP2PG isn't the route — see Valoren's COP1 walkthrough for applying to the Court of Protection for a deputyship instead.
An EPA also only ever covers property and financial affairs — there is no health and welfare equivalent. If health and welfare decisions need covering and the donor still has capacity, a fresh LP1H is the only way to get that; once capacity is lost, only the Court of Protection can appoint a welfare deputy.
04
Who can apply
Only the attorney (or attorneys) named in the EPA, or a solicitor acting on their behalf. The donor doesn't sign this form, and a family member who isn't a named attorney has no standing to register it, however clearly they'd otherwise take charge.
EP2PG only applies to a genuine pre-2007 EPA — and only an attorney actually named on it can apply. Getting this right first avoids weeks lost to the wrong process.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · EP2PG❦
Section02
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Section 2
Notice first — form EP1PG, before you can submit EP2PG
Notice comes first. Form EP1PG must be served before EP2PG goes in — and once it has, the application goes to the OPG straight away, while the 5-week objection window runs.
01
Why notice has to come first
Registration starts with form EP1PG — formal notice of your intention to register, served on the donor and on a prescribed group of relatives. Nothing required the donor ever to tell their relatives the EPA existed, so for many families EP1PG genuinely is the first they hear of it.
02
Who must be told
The donor themselves, and at least three of their close relatives — drawn from ten classes set out in Schedule 4 to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, in strict order of priority starting with a spouse or civil partner, then children, then parents, then siblings, and so on.
If a class contains more than one person, every person in that class must be included — which can push the total above three. If fewer than three qualifying relatives exist at all, you notify everyone who does.
03
The 5-week objection window
Everyone notified has 5 weeks from the date they received notice to object to the Office of the Public Guardian, on one of five specific legal grounds (the power isn't validly created; it no longer subsists; the application is premature because the donor isn't yet losing capacity; fraud or undue pressure was used; or the attorney is unsuitable).
The window closes 5 weeks after the LAST notice given — not the first — so send the notices as close together as practical, and EP2PG itself as soon as they have gone.
04
If the Court needs to dispense with notice
The Court of Protection can, in limited circumstances, agree you don't have to notify the donor — normally only where a doctor certifies that notice would cause the donor harm or distress. That needs a separate application to the Court, with its own fee, made before you complete Part Six of EP2PG.
Notice comes first. Form EP1PG must be served before EP2PG goes in — and once it has, the application goes to the OPG straight away, while the 5-week objection window runs.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · EP2PG❦
Section03
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Section 3
Parts One–Four — the donor and the attorney(s)
The first four Parts of EP2PG establish who everyone is — the donor, and up to three named attorneys.
01
Part One — the donor
Title, last name, forename(s), and — if the donor lives in a hospital or care home — the name of that institution under 'Company Name' (write 'not applicable' if they live at home). Address across three lines, deliberately excluding town/city, county and postcode, which get their own separate boxes.
If the donor's address here differs from the address shown on the EPA itself, or their date of birth doesn't match (provide a birth certificate copy if so), explain the discrepancy in Part Twelve — Additional Information.
02
Part Two — Attorney One (you, if you're the one applying)
Your title, name, and — if you're a professionally appointed attorney (a solicitor, for example) — your firm's name and address. Date of birth, daytime phone, email, and occupation.
Critically: state whether you're acting 'jointly' or 'jointly and severally' with any other attorney, taken from Part B of the original EPA document itself, not decided fresh here. Jointly means every attorney must agree before acting; jointly and severally means any one attorney can act alone.
03
Parts Three & Four — Attorney Two and Attorney Three
Same information as Part Two, repeated for a second and third named attorney, if the EPA appointed more than one. If there are more than three attorneys, their details go in Part Twelve — Additional Information, or on an attached sheet, not squeezed into these boxes.
04
If a co-attorney isn't applying with you
Part Eight covers this separately, further down the form — see Section 4 below. It doesn't apply if the attorneys were appointed 'jointly', because a joint appointment means they must all apply together in the first place.
The first four Parts of EP2PG establish who everyone is — the donor, and up to three named attorneys.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · EP2PG❦
Section04
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Section 4
Parts Five–Eight — the EPA itself, and who's been notified
01
Part Five — the EPA document
The date the donor originally signed the EPA (from the document itself), and whether you know of any OTHER EPAs the donor has made — a fact that needs disclosing if true.
02
Part Six — recording notice to the donor
The date the donor was personally given the EP1PG notice, and by whom, if it wasn't you. This section must be completed unless the Court has agreed to dispense with notifying the donor (see Section 2 above) — if that applies, explain it in Part Twelve instead of leaving Part Six blank.
03
Part Seven — recording notice to relatives
The full name, relationship, address, and exact date notice was given, for every relative you were required to notify under the Schedule 4 class order. If you had to notify more relatives than there's room for, attach a separate sheet rather than compressing the detail.
04
Part Eight — co-attorneys who aren't applying now
Only relevant if there's more than one attorney and the others aren't joining this particular application — enter their details here so the Public Guardian knows who else holds authority under the same EPA.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · EP2PG❦
Section05
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Section 5
Parts Nine–Eleven — the fee, the declaration, and where correspondence goes
01
Part Nine — the fee
£92 to register. If the donor's gross annual income is under £12,000, apply for a 50% reduction (£46) using form LPA120A; if they receive certain means-tested benefits, you may not have to pay at all. The OPG's separate fees guidance, sent alongside EP2PG, sets out exactly which benefits qualify.
02
Part Ten — the attorney's declaration
You (and any other attorney applying with you) certify you've complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the regulations made under it, and date your signature. The form is explicit that a false declaration can carry criminal liability — this isn't a formality to skim.
03
Part Eleven — the correspondence address
Must be an attorney's address, or a solicitor's acting for an attorney — not the donor's. This is where the OPG sends all correspondence, and where the registered EPA itself is returned once processing is complete. Leave it blank and everything defaults to Attorney One's address instead.
04
Part Twelve — additional information
Catch-all for anything that didn't fit elsewhere: extra attorneys beyond three, an explained address or date-of-birth mismatch, or the reason the Court dispensed with notifying the donor.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · EP2PG❦
Section06
§66
Section 6
After you send it — the wait, objections, and what comes back
01
Where it goes, and what it must include
Post the completed EP2PG together with the original EPA document (or a certified copy) to the Office of the Public Guardian, PO Box 16185, Birmingham, B2 2WH.
Send it as soon as the EP1PG notices have been given — GOV.UK's own instruction. The OPG then waits out the remainder of the 5-week objection window from the date of the last notice before completing the registration.
02
The holding period
The OPG normally holds the application for the remainder of the notice period from the date of the last EP1PG notice, checking for any objections lodged within that 5 weeks, before proceeding to register.
03
If someone objects
They must notify the OPG which of the five grounds they're relying on, within their own 5-week window. Unresolved objections typically mean the matter goes to the Court of Protection for a decision, under rule 68 of the Court of Protection Rules — this can add months, and there's no fee for the objector to raise it.
04
What you get back
Once registered, the OPG returns the original EPA — now endorsed as registered — to whoever's address was given in Part Eleven. From this point, the donor cannot revoke the EPA themselves without the Court of Protection confirming the revocation, even if they later regain some capacity.
05
Ongoing duties once registered
A registered attorney must act in the donor's best interests, keep the donor's money separate from their own, and keep clear records — the same standards a deputy or LPA attorney is held to, even though an EPA is a different, older instrument.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · EP2PG❦
Many people file EP2PG themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the situation behind it has stopped being simple — beyond what a careful person can safely do alone — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.
FAQ
EP2PG questions, answered.
01What is form EP2PG for?›
EP2PG is the Office of the Public Guardian's application to register an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) — a type of power of attorney made before 1 October 2007, when EPAs were replaced by Lasting Powers of Attorney.
An EPA can still be used today, but once the donor is losing or has lost mental capacity, it must be registered with the OPG before the attorney can keep acting on it.
02Who can complete and sign EP2PG?›
Only the attorney (or attorneys) named in the EPA — or a solicitor acting on their behalf.
The donor doesn't complete it, and a family member who isn't named as an attorney has no right to apply, even if they're the one who would naturally take charge.
03Do I need to do anything before I can submit EP2PG?›
Yes — you must first give notice using form EP1PG to the donor and to at least three of their close relatives (fewer only if genuinely fewer exist), following a fixed order of priority set out in Schedule 4 to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, starting with a spouse or civil partner.
Once the notices have been given, send EP2PG straight away — the Public Guardian then waits out the 5-week objection window (which closes 5 weeks after the last notice) before completing the registration.
04How much does it cost to register an EPA?›
£92. If the donor's gross income is under £12,000 a year, you can apply for a 50% reduction (£46), and if they receive certain means-tested benefits you may not have to pay at all — apply for either using form LPA120A alongside EP2PG.
05What happens if a relative objects to the registration?›
They have 5 weeks from the date they were notified to tell the Office of the Public Guardian which of five specific legal grounds they're objecting on — for example, that the EPA isn't valid, or that the attorney is unsuitable.
If they don't object within that window, the OPG proceeds to register it.
06Is my parent's old Enduring Power of Attorney still valid, or do I need a new LPA?›
If it was validly made and signed before 1 October 2007, an EPA is still legally valid today — you don't need to replace it with an LPA.
It only ever covers property and financial affairs, though; there's no equivalent EPA for health and welfare decisions, so if that's needed, a fresh Health & Welfare LPA has to be made separately while the donor still has capacity to make one.
07What happens after I submit EP2PG?›
The OPG holds the application for the remainder of the notice period and checks for objections. If none are raised, it registers the EPA and returns the original, endorsed as registered, to whichever address you gave in Part Eleven.
Registration is usually complete between 8 and 10 weeks after you've sent the application and told the family — longer if anyone objects.
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Where this fits
EP2PG is one form. The file behind it is the rest.
EP2PG asks for exactly what the Civil Dossier and Legal Instruments records are built to hold — the EPA's signing date, the named attorneys, and the donor's close relatives with current addresses. Building that file before the 5-week notice clock needs to start is what turns EP1PG and EP2PG from a scramble into a formality.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)·12 fields·£92 to register. 50% reduction (£46) if the donor's gross annual income is under £12,000, via form LPA120A. Full exemption if the donor receives certain means-tested benefits.·EP1PG and EP2PG become a copying-out job once the Civil Dossier and People, Authority & Contacts records hold the attorney appointment and every relative's name and current address — minutes of transcription, not a research project. The 35-day objection window still runs regardless — nothing shortens that. with Valoren
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