How to use form LP3 to notify people about a Lasting Power of Attorney
If the donor named any 'people to be notified' in their LPA (Section 6 of LP1F or LP1H), those people must receive form LP3 before the LPA is sent to the OPG for registration.
It is a safeguard — giving named people 3 weeks to raise concerns if they believe the donor lacked capacity or was pressured.
LP3 itself is a short, simple form — but the 3-week wait it triggers is the step most people forget, adding weeks to the registration process unnecessarily.
✓ Official source checked 2 September 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 20 April 2026LP3 on GOV.UK ↗
United Kingdom·Informational, not legal or financial advice·Official source: GOV.UK
✓Official form · always current
This is the same official LP3 file Office of the Public Guardian publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.
Current version: April 2026 · confirmed on GOV.UK 2 September 2026
This walkthrough takes LP3 field by field, in plain English. The form itself is short and simple; the part people get wrong is the 3-week notification clock it starts — send the LPA in too early, or skip LP3 altogether, and the OPG rejects the registration and you have to start the notification over.
The 3-week wait people skip
Forgetting to send LP3 and submitting the LPA for registration immediately.
The OPG checks whether 'people to be notified' were named in the LPA, and if they were, it will check that the notification period has been observed.
If LP3 was not sent, or if the LPA is submitted before the 3-week period expires, the OPG will reject the application and the process must restart — adding weeks to the already 8-to-10-week registration timeline.
The form, in summary
The LP3 form, in summary.
Valoren
LP3·2 pages·10 fields guided
With Valoren5 minutes
Without Valoren15 minutes
per LP3 form; the bottleneck is the 3-week notification period
When an LPA includes a list of 'people to be notified' (named in Section 6 of LP1F or LP1H), those people must each receive form LP3 before the LPA can be submitted for registration.
The people to be notified have 3 weeks from receiving LP3 to contact the OPG with any concerns or objections.
If they object, the OPG will investigate before proceeding with registration.
LP3 is a safeguard against an LPA being registered when the donor lacked capacity or was under undue pressure.
·Who Files — The donor or the attorney — whoever is applying to register the LPA sends LP3 to each named person
·2 pages · 10 fields guided
·Draws from your Estate File — People, Authority & Contacts, Legal Instruments
Section01
§11
Section 1
Who needs to receive LP3 — and who does not
LP3 is sent only to people who were specifically named in Section 6 of the LP1F or LP1H form as 'people to be notified'.
Most attorneys, certificate providers, and witnesses do NOT receive LP3 — only the named persons in Section 6.
01
People to be notified (Section 6 of the LPA)
These are people the donor wants to be told when the LPA is being registered — typically close family members who are NOT attorneys, such as siblings or adult children who are not acting as attorneys themselves.
The donor can name up to five people.
They have no power to block registration, only to raise concerns with the OPG for investigation.
02
If no one is named in Section 6
If the donor chose not to name anyone as a person to be notified, the LPA must instead have at least two certificate providers (Section 10 of LP1F or LP1H).
The OPG treats this as an alternative safeguard.
If the donor named no one AND has only one certificate provider, the OPG will not register the LPA.
03
Who does NOT receive LP3
The attorneys do not receive LP3 — they sign the LPA itself and are already aware of it.
The certificate provider does not receive LP3 — they have already certified the donor's understanding and freedom from pressure.
Replacement attorneys also do not receive LP3. LP3 is only for people specifically listed in Section 6.
04
Attorneys who are also people to be notified
It is not possible to name an attorney as a person to be notified in Section 6.
The OPG treats this as an error and will return the form.
If the donor wanted a specific person to be notified, they need to be either an attorney (and sign LP1F/LP1H) or a person to be notified (Section 6) — not both.
LP3 is sent only to people who were specifically named in Section 6 of the LP1F or LP1H form as 'people to be notified'.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · LP3❦
Section02
§22
Section 2
Completing and sending LP3
LP3 is a short notification form. A separate LP3 must be completed and sent to each named person individually. They cannot share a single LP3.
01
What LP3 contains
LP3 tells the recipient: the donor's full name; the type of LPA being registered (property and financial affairs, or health and welfare); the name(s) of the attorney(s); that the donor intends to apply to the OPG to register the LPA; what the recipient can do if they have concerns (contact the OPG within 3 weeks).
LP3 does not give the recipient power to veto the LPA — only to raise concerns for investigation.
You complete sections A, B, and C — the person being notified does not fill in any part of LP3.
Print clearly. Sign and date the form before sending.
03
How to send LP3
Send by recorded delivery or a method where you can prove receipt — the OPG may ask for evidence that LP3 was sent.
You can send LP3 by hand, first class post, or recorded delivery.
Email is not accepted by the OPG (they need a paper trail).
Keep a copy of each LP3 you send and a record of when and how it was sent.
04
Starting the 3-week clock
The 3-week notification period runs from the date LP3 is received by the person being notified — not the date you sent it.
Allow a few days for postage on top of the 3 weeks.
If you are sending to multiple people, the 3-week period runs from when the last person receives their LP3.
Do not submit the LPA to the OPG until all 3-week periods have expired.
LP3 is a short notification form. A separate LP3 must be completed and sent to each named person individually. They cannot share a single LP3.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · LP3❦
Section03
§33
Section 3
What happens if someone objects
A person who receives LP3 can raise concerns with the OPG within the 3-week window. Not all concerns result in the LPA being refused — most result in further enquiries.
01
Grounds for objection
A person notified can contact the OPG if they believe: the donor lacked mental capacity to make the LPA when they signed it; the donor was under undue influence or pressure when signing; the LPA is not valid for some other reason (e.g. signatures are missing or out of order); the attorney is bankrupt (for a property and financial affairs LPA).
They cannot object simply because they disagree with the donor's choice of attorney.
02
What the OPG does with an objection
The OPG will pause the registration and investigate.
For factual objections (e.g. 'the signature is forged'), the OPG may refer the matter to the Court of Protection.
For concerns about capacity, the OPG may request a medical assessment.
The OPG aims to resolve most objections within the standard 8-to-10-week timeframe, but contested objections can take much longer.
03
If no objection is raised
After the 3-week period expires with no objection, the applicant submits the completed LPA (with certificate of receipt of LP3 notifications) to the OPG with the £92 registration fee.
The OPG then begins its registration review — which itself takes approximately 8 to 10 weeks from the date of receipt.
A person who receives LP3 can raise concerns with the OPG within the 3-week window. Not all concerns result in the LPA being refused — most result in further enquiries.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) · LP3❦
Many people file LP3 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the situation behind it has stopped being simple — an objection raised, a donor whose capacity is questioned, a Court of Protection application in view — 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
LP3 questions, answered.
LP3 is the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) notice you send to every 'person to be notified' named in Section 6 of an LPA (LP1F or LP1H) before the LPA is submitted for registration.
It tells them the LPA is about to be registered and gives them a window to raise any concerns with the OPG.
Only the people specifically listed as 'people to be notified' in Section 6 of the LPA receive LP3.
Attorneys, replacement attorneys, certificate providers and witnesses do not — they are already part of the LPA.
If the donor named no one in Section 6, the LPA must instead have at least two certificate providers, and no LP3 is needed.
Send LP3 to every named person before you submit the LPA to the OPG.
Each recipient then has 3 weeks from the date they receive LP3 to contact the OPG.
Wait until every 3-week period has expired — the clock runs from the last person to receive theirs — before submitting the LPA for registration.
No. LP3 is free to send.
The fee is the £92LPA registration fee, paid to the OPG when the completed LPA is submitted after the notification period ends.
A reduced fee or exemption may apply on a low income or means-tested benefits — check the OPG's guidance.
The OPG does not accept email for LP3 — they need a paper trail.
Send by hand, first-class post or recorded delivery, keep a copy of each LP3, and note when and how it went, in case the OPG asks for evidence that notification was given.
Forgetting to send LP3 at all, or submitting the LPA before the 3-week period has run.
The OPG checks whether Section 6 named anyone and whether they were notified in time; if not, it rejects the application and the notification has to be done again — adding weeks to a process that already takes the OPG around 8 to 10 weeks.
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Where this fits
LP3 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.
Forms are easier when the records are ready.
For LP3, that means the registered LPA itself (LP1F or LP1H), so you can copy the donor's name, the LPA type, and the attorneys' names exactly, plus the full names and addresses of every 'person to be notified' named in Section 6 — and a way to prove each LP3 was sent.
For the household where a parent is ageing and an LPA is not yet registered — the planning conversations your family needs to have, in one place. Caring for a Parent — £79 →
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)·10 fields·Free — but the LPA registration fee of £92 applies when the LPA is submitted to the OPG·5 minutes with Valoren
Sent just before registering
LP3 notifies the people the donor has chosen — it's used just before the Lasting Power of Attorney itself is sent to the Office of the Public Guardian.
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