Court of Protection / Deputyship

Court of Protection / Deputyship Experts

Where an individual has lost the mental capacity to make their own decisions this can cause stress and frustration to those closest. Due to losing capacity they will also not be able to draw up their own Will or complete a Lasting Power of Attorney to allow a nominated individual to manage any financial or welfare affairs on their behalf.

Making an application to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order

If an individual is shown to have lost capacity and they do not have a valid LPA in place to manage, an application can be made by a person close to the individual to the Court of Protection for a Deputyship Order to be made.

Due to the implications of such an order being made, the Court of Protection will only exercise its powers if it can be clearly shown that the individual has lost capacity and it is necessary for such an order to be made to ensure the needs of the individual are met. When making decisions on behalf of an individual, a deputy will have to:

• Apply a high standard of care for every decision that is made.
• Only make decisions that are authorised by the Court.
• Only make decisions that are in the individual’s best interests.

If the Court agrees to such an order being made, this will provide authority for the deputy to make decisions about the individual’s personal welfare or property and finances. However, the following should be noted:

• The terms of the order made will address only the issues before the Court at the time of the application so as to have as little impact on the individual’s life as possible. As such, if there are subsequent issues that arise at a later date that are not covered by the order, a further application to the Court would have to be made.
• Any order made will only last as long as the individual has lost capacity. If the individual regains capacity the order will cease to have effect.
• The Court will require insurance, by way of a Security Bond to be put in place by the deputy if the order sought relates to the individual’s finances or property.
• The deputy will have to annually provide a report to the Court of Protection to confirm the decisions that have been made for the individual.
• If the individual has periods where they regain capacity to make decisions for themselves, the deputy must not make any decisions where they believe the individual is capable of doing so.
• A deputy cannot decide to stop life sustaining treatment for an individual.
• A deputy cannot create a Will for an individual.

As we are London based, we can easily attend Court hearings at the COP located in central London on your behalf.

If you feel that your loved one will benefit from a Deputyship Order being made, please call us today for a no obligation chat to discuss your specific circumstances.

At Ansham White Solicitors, we pride ourselves on our customer focused approach. The founding Director, Shamim Ibrahim, has 20+ years of experience in dealing with private client matters. Throughout this time, she has built up and trained a team of individuals whom maintain her high quality standard of work to ensue that our clients receive professional yet personable advice throughout their deputyship application.

Please call us today to arrange an initial fixed fee consultation, our private client team will be more than happy to help. We have offices based in North Harrow and the City of London which have nearby parking and good transport links.  If you are calling from overseas or are unable to attend our office, we are able to conduct a video consultation via either Zoom or Microsoft Teams.