What if I don't have a Certificate Provider?

If you don't have a Certificate Provider for your LPA, the document can't be completed. Two practical options: ask a doctor, solicitor, or other qualified professional (often charges a fee, can take days to weeks), or use a professional Certificate Provider service like SAMEDAY LPA's, which can act same day by video call.

Why a Certificate Provider matters

The Certificate Provider is a safeguard built into every Lasting Power of Attorney. Their job is to confirm, by signing a section of the form, that you understand what the document does and that nobody is pressuring you into making it. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) will not register an LPA without that signature, so without a Certificate Provider you simply don't have a valid LPA.

This is the point in the process where a lot of people get stuck. They fill in the rest of the form happily, name their attorneys, work out the powers — and then they reach the Certificate Provider section and stop, because they're not sure who can do it.

Who qualifies

There are two routes, and you only need someone from one of them.

The first is the 2-years-known route. This is someone who has known you personally for at least two years — a friend, a neighbour, a colleague. They can't be a member of your family, they can't be one of your attorneys, and they can't have a conflict of interest. They need to be willing to have a proper conversation with you about the LPA and confident enough to sign that you understand it and aren't being pressured.

The second is the professional-skills route. This is someone whose job gives them the skills to make that judgement — a doctor, a solicitor, a social worker, or a professional Certificate Provider service. They don't need to have known you for any length of time. What matters is the relevant skill and the absence of any conflict of interest.

Why people get stuck here

Plenty of people don't have an obvious fit. Maybe you've moved recently and your close friends haven't known you two full years. Maybe the people who have are also the people you want as attorneys, which rules them out. Maybe you'd ask your GP, but your surgery has a policy of declining, or charges a private fee and can't fit you in for weeks.

None of that means you can't make an LPA. It just means you use the professional route instead.

What the role really is

It helps to understand what a Certificate Provider is actually checking, because it makes the whole thing feel less mysterious. They're confirming two things. First, that you understand what the LPA does — that you're giving named people the authority to make decisions for you, and what those decisions cover. Second, that you're making the LPA freely, without anyone leaning on you to do it or to name them.

That's it. They're not assessing whether your choices are wise. They're not judging your family. They're confirming understanding and free choice. It's a quiet but genuinely important protection.

How our service works

If you don't have anyone who fits, we can act as your Certificate Provider in our professional capacity.

You contact us and tell us where you are. We confirm we can act for you, then book a video call — often the same day. On the call, a qualified planner explains the LPA you're signing in plain English, asks you questions to check you understand it, and watches for any sign that you're being pressured or that there's a concern about capacity. If everything is in order, we sign the Certificate Provider section and return your document the same day.

There's one honest limit worth knowing. We can't sign if we have a reasonable doubt about your capacity to make the LPA. If that happens, we'll tell you plainly and explain the next step — usually a formal capacity assessment by a doctor — and we won't charge you for the call. The signature has to mean something, so we only give it when we can stand behind it.

If the Certificate Provider section is the only thing standing between you and a finished LPA, it doesn't need to hold you up for weeks. It can be sorted today.