If you hold a Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney, keeping receipts and bank statements is not optional. The Office of the Public Guardian expects attorneys to be able to account for every significant financial decision, and financial records are how you do that.
Many attorneys are surprised by this. They assume that because they are acting in good faith, no one will ever question them. But good faith alone is not a defence if the OPG comes calling, and family disputes about money are more common than most people expect.
Why the OPG cares about financial documentation
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 requires attorneys to act in the best interests of the person they represent, and to be able to demonstrate that they have done so. For financial decisions, this means showing not just that money was spent, but that it was spent appropriately and in the donor’s interests.
A bank statement tells the OPG that a payment was made. Your supporting records tell them why it was made, what it was for, and why it was the right decision. Without both, the picture is incomplete.
What financial documents should an attorney keep?
- Bank statements for all accounts in the donor’s name, including current accounts, savings accounts and any joint accounts
- Receipts and invoices for significant expenditure, care home fees, professional services, large purchases, home maintenance
- Payment records showing care home fees have been paid, with confirmation from the provider
- Investment statements if the donor holds ISAs, shares, bonds or other investment products
- Pension correspondence showing income received on the donor’s behalf
- Benefits correspondence, including any changes to state pension, attendance allowance or other entitlements
- Property-related documents if the attorney is managing a property on the donor’s behalf
- Tax records and HMRC correspondence
- Any professional invoices paid from the donor’s funds, including solicitor and accountant fees
You do not need to keep every receipt for every small purchase. Routine small expenses, within a clear and consistent pattern, do not each need individual documentation. But anything significant, anything that might be questioned, and anything that falls outside ordinary day-to-day living expenses, should be backed up with documentation.
What counts as significant?
There is no strict monetary threshold, but as a working guide, many attorneys and solicitors suggest that any single transaction above £200 to £500 should be documented, and that anything above £1,000 should have both a receipt and a written note of why the expenditure was in the donor’s interests. Care home fees, property costs, legal fees and medical equipment will typically always need documentation regardless of amount.
Annual accounts
Beyond day-to-day record keeping, attorneys managing finances under an LPA are expected to keep annual accounts. The OPG provides a standard form, PA11, for this purpose. Annual accounts summarise:
- Opening and closing balances for all accounts
- Total income received during the year
- Total expenditure during the year, broken down by category
- A list of significant assets and their estimated value
- Any gifts made from the donor’s funds
- Any investments made or liquidated
The OPG does not always ask for annual accounts, but it can. And having them ready is far better than trying to reconstruct a year’s worth of transactions after the fact.
How long do you need to keep financial records?
There is no specific statutory retention period for LPA financial records, but the broadly accepted standard is seven years after the LPA ends, which is when the donor dies, when the LPA is revoked, or when your role as attorney comes to an end.
This seven-year standard mirrors HMRC’s requirements for personal tax records, and applying the same standard to your LPA records is a sensible baseline. In practice, keeping records for longer rather than shorter is always safer.
Digital storage is perfectly acceptable for OPG purposes. Scanning receipts and bank statements and storing them securely means they are much less likely to be lost, and they are far easier to produce if needed.
Making record keeping manageable
The volume of record keeping required can feel daunting, particularly when you are also managing the practical demands of caring for someone. A few simple habits make it much more manageable:
- Photograph or scan receipts as soon as you receive them, rather than letting them accumulate
- Set up a simple folder structure, either physical or digital, organised by financial year
- Reconcile bank statements monthly rather than leaving it to the end of the year
- Keep a brief running note of the reason behind any significant expenditure at the time you make it
- Use the donor’s accounts for their expenses, rather than paying from your own account and claiming back, wherever possible
Financial records your solicitor will approve of
Wardly’s financial module lets you log transactions, categorise expenditure, attach receipts, and generate annual account summaries in the OPG PA11 format, all in one tamper-evident record.
Start your free logFrequently asked questions
Can I use a spreadsheet to keep financial records?
Yes, and many attorneys do. A spreadsheet is acceptable to the OPG as long as it is accurate and complete. Its limitation is that it has no audit trail, so it is easy for a third party to question whether it has been altered. A timestamped digital record with supporting receipts and bank statements offers stronger protection.
What if a receipt has been lost?
A lost receipt is not the end of the world, but it should be the exception rather than the rule. If you cannot produce a receipt, a bank statement showing the transaction and a written note explaining what it was for is better than nothing. For significant expenditure, it is worth contacting the supplier for a duplicate.
Do I need to keep records of payments made before the LPA was registered?
The LPA only authorises you to act once it has been registered with the OPG. Any payments made before that point were not made under the authority of the LPA. Your records should cover the period from when the registered LPA came into use.
Am I required to produce accounts even if the OPG has not asked for them?
The OPG may ask for accounts at any time, and you should be ready to provide them. The general expectation is that attorneys keep annual accounts as a matter of course, regardless of whether they have been formally requested.
What if other family members want to see the accounts?
There is no automatic legal right for family members to see the accounts, unless they are also named as attorneys or certificate providers. However, providing an overview to close family is generally considered good practice, particularly where significant decisions have been made. It can prevent disputes from arising in the first place.