Why Lasting Powers of Attorney Are Essential - Especially for Crypto Holders

What Is a Lasting Power of Attorney?

An LPA is a legally binding document in England and Wales that allows you (the “donor”) to appoint one or more trusted people (your “attorneys”) to make decisions on your behalf if you can’t. Crucially, you must set up an LPA while you still have mental capacity. Once capacity is lost, it’s too late. If you don’t have an LPA and lose capacity, your family would need to apply to the Court of Protection to gain authority to help you. That process is lengthy, costly, and can be particularly problematic when time-sensitive decisions need to be made about financial markets or safeguarding digital asset security.

Two Types of LPA

There are two forms of LPA, and many people choose to make both. A Health and Welfare LPA allows your attorney to make decisions about your medical treatment, daily care, and living arrangements. This ensures your wishes are followed if you can’t speak for yourself, including choices about life-sustaining treatment. A Property and Financial Affairs LPA authorises your attorney to manage your money and property. This includes paying bills, managing bank accounts, collecting benefits, and even selling property if necessary. For crypto holders, this power is especially critical. Your attorney can be authorised to manage digital wallets, safeguard private keys, interact with exchanges, and navigate complex verification procedures, tasks that are impossible for loved ones to handle without proper legal authority.

Why Crypto Holders Should Care

Unlike traditional bank accounts, crypto assets can’t be recovered with a death certificate or grant of probate. Private keys, seed phrases, and 2FA setups are often unique to you. Without clear legal authority and instructions, your family may be permanently locked out of your wallets. An LPA lets you appoint attorneys who understand these assets, or who will work with professionals who do. You can set legally recognised instructions for how your digital wealth is to be accessed, secured, and transferred if you can’t act yourself. For crypto investors and blockchain entrepreneurs, an LPA is a sensible precaution and a critical part of your security and estate planning.

Choosing the Right Attorney

Choosing an attorney is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. They must be over 18 and have mental capacity. For financial LPAs, they cannot be bankrupt or under a Debt Relief Order. Your attorney doesn’t need to be a legal or financial expert, but they should be someone you trust completely to act in your best interests. For those with crypto holdings, you might also consider whether they:

• Understand how to manage digital assets.
  
• Are willing to seek professional help if needed.
  
• Can maintain strict security practices to avoid loss or theft.

You can appoint multiple attorneys to act jointly (all must agree) or jointly and severally (any can act independently). The joint and several option is generally more flexible and practical, especially where quick action may be needed in volatile markets.

Living Wills (Advance Decisions): Planning for Your Medical Choices

While an LPA lets someone you trust make decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity, you may also want to record your own clear wishes about medical treatment in advance. A Living Will, legally known as an Advance Decision, is a document where you specify treatments you want to refuse in certain situations. For example, you might say you don’t want life-sustaining interventions like ventilation, CPR, or antibiotics if you’re in a persistent vegetative state or nearing the end of life.

An Advance Decision ensures doctors must follow your instructions if you lose capacity to consent or refuse treatment yourself. It must:

• Clearly set out which treatments you wish to refuse.
  
• Describe the specific circumstances when refusal applies.
  
• Include a signed statement (witnessed) confirming it applies even if your life is at risk.

This is particularly important for people with strong personal, ethical, or religious views about medical intervention. If you have both an Advance Decision and a Health and Welfare LPA, you should review them carefully together. Conflicts between them can create legal uncertainty. Typically, the newer document will override the older one.

For clients with significant crypto or digital holdings, a Living Will ensures your wishes are respected on medical treatment, while your attorneys under an LPA can manage your finances, including crypto assets, in line with your overall estate strategy.

How to Make an LPA

Creating an LPA involves:

1. Choosing your attorney(s).
   
2. Completing the official forms carefully.
   
3. Signing with the appropriate witnesses and a certificate provider who confirms you understand what you’re doing.
   
4. Registering it with the Office of the Public Guardian.
   

Registration costs £82 per LPA and typically takes 8–10 weeks. Once registered, it is a powerful, legally recognised document you can rely on if needed. You can also specify replacement attorneys in case your original choice can’t act.

Peace of Mind in a Digital World

Modern wealth isn’t just about property or bank accounts. It includes crypto wallets, NFTs, online accounts, and other digital assets—all of which require careful legal planning to avoid being lost forever. A Lasting Power of Attorney gives you control over who can help manage these assets, how they’ll be accessed, and under what conditions. It ensures your wishes are followed, your investments protected, and your loved ones spared unnecessary legal hurdles.

How We Can Help

As your legal advisors, we can advise on structuring LPAs to cover traditional and digital assets, including cryptocurrency wallets and private keys, and draft clear instructions and preferences so your attorneys know exactly how to act on your behalf. We can also help you choose appropriate attorneys who understand your asset profile and security needs, complete and review all LPA forms to avoid errors and delays, guide you through the signing and witnessing process and register your LPAs with the Office of the Public Guardian and handle any follow-up questions. We understand that things might change, and can provide ongoing advice if you wish to update, revoke, or expand your LPAs in future.

At Blocksize Law, we specialise in helping clients in the crypto and digital asset space protect their interests with solid, practical legal planning. Contact us today to secure your peace of mind for the future.