Martin Lewis says £92 document ‘more important than a will’ | Personal Finance | Finance

April 23, 2026 4,541

A couple looking at a document

Ensuring you have a Power of Attorney is crucial (Image: GETTY IMAGES)

Personal finance expert Martin Lewis has issued a plea for people to sign up for a document which costs £92 and is “more important than a will”. Speaking on This Morning to hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley, he explained that if people fail to take action, they could be left in a nightmare scenario.

A Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows a person to appoint those they trust to make decisions about property, financial affairs, or health and welfare on their behalf. Mr Lewis explained that if people leave it too late, it can leave family members with great problems if their condition and health deteriorate, and said he’d put his own in place in his 30s.

Two people looking at a document

Ensuring your finances and documents are in order is important for your assets (Image: GETTY IMAGES)

He said: “So to simplify this, most people worry about their will and having a will and quite right a will is important. But I would argue that a lasting power of attorney is more important than a will.

“A will dictates what happens to your assets when you die. A power of attorney dictates who can look after your finances and your assets if you’re alive but lose capacity.

“And this happens to many more people than they think. And lots of people say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter. We’ll deal if in the in the event’, you know, whether it’s Alzheimer’s or a severe stroke or an accident or anything else or dementia that takes away your capacity, the idea that someone else can simply take over your finances and your health and welfare decisions is not true.”

Martin Lewis with an award

Martin Lewis has been awarded for his broadcasting and consumer rights work (Image: GETTY IMAGES)

What is a power of attorney?

A power of attorney is a legal document which allows one person (the donor) to give at least one other person (the attorney) the right to make decisions on their behalf, regarding their health and/or finances, explains consumer website Which?

It adds that you can only set up power of attorney while you still have the ability to weigh up information and make decisions for yourself – known as ‘mental capacity’ – so it’s worth putting one in place early on.

If you don’t have power of attorney set up, a friend or relative may have to apply to the courts for the right to make decisions on your behalf.

Mr Lewis added: “You have to go to the court of protection. It’s costly. It’s difficult. It’s expensive. It’s incredibly stressful for the people that are doing it. And it is a it’s really difficult.

“The alternative is you put a power of attorney in place. And you put a power of attorney in place and that gives somebody else the ability to take over your financial decisions and the health and welfare decisions.”

Health is at the heart of the decision – and Mr Lewis explained why he did it: “In the event that you lose capacity it it is not that they can take over now. You don’t have to do it. So, I’ve had one in place since I was in my 30s. I have no foreseeability of losing my capacity that I’m aware of, but I have one in place in the event that someone needs to take over.”

Explaining the decision-making, he said: “Do you have a power of attorney? If you don’t, what would happen to your assets and the decisions? Who would be able to look after you in the event that you lost your capacity? And don’t simply assume that someone could go and get access to your bank account. It is easy to do. It’s simple.

“The best way is to get a solicitor, but if you can’t, there are there are halfway schemes or you can do it yourself in England and Wales. It costs £92 to register in England and Wales per power of attorney. So is the financial one and the health and well. It’s worth a look.”

There are 2 types of LPA: