The Court of Protection is a court that deals with decisions or actions taken under the Mental Capacity Act.
You or someone helping you would need to apply to the Court if someone needs permission from the Court to make decisions about your health, welfare, financial affairs, or property.
If they decide your vulnerable loved one lacks mental capacity, the Court can then appoint a deputy to make financial or welfare decisions on their behalf.
The process of appointing a deputy can take four to six months. The Court can process matters urgently when needed.
Submit application: Once you submit a deputy application to the Court of Protection, the Court will then process your application.
Notify those involved: After the application is processed, you must notify the person the application is about, as well as anyone who needs to be kept informed, within 14 days of the issue date. If no one raises any objections, the Court of Protection sends the application to an Authorised Officer or a Judge for their consideration.
The Court will make a decision: Once the application has been considered, the Court will either make a deputy order to appoint you as the deputy or send an interim order. This order is usually to ask you to provide more evidence where needed on your application.
The Court of Protection has the power to appoint people to manage your affairs if you become mentally incapable and do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).
The Court has the power to make other orders to decide issues for persons who are not mentally capable of making decisions for themselves such as:
A better solution is, while you are fit and well, to appoint someone to look after your affairs. We strongly recommend clients to complete a Lasting Power of Attorney to ensure that all grounds are covered if the worst is to happen.
Your Deputy (usually a family member) will then be able to deal with your financial affairs, under the supervision of the Court of Protection. At Tilly Bailey & Irvine we have considerable experience applying for orders, appointing deputies, and dealing with the Court of Protection.
Our specialist probate solicitors can offer impartial, honest, and caring advice on all aspects of Wills, Tax Planning, Care, Estates and Powers of Attorney. If you would like to speak to our team about a Court of Protection matter, contact us today to make a quick and free appointment to review your situation.
Call: 01429 856744
The role of a deputy is similar to that of an attorney. If you are acting as an attorney, this will be because the person you are acting for specifically chose you to act and they made a document called a ‘power of attorney’ at a time when they had capacity to do so.
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