Court of Protection

If a family member has become mentally unable to manage their own affairs for example, by sudden illness or accident or through gradual deterioration in their mental health and they have not signed an Enduring Power of Attorney or a Lasting Power of Attorney an application will need to be made to the Court of Protection.

The Court of Protection is a court specifically responsible for making decisions on behalf of individuals who lack the mental capacity to do this themselves. The Court will decide, based on the application, who is the best person to be appointed as deputy (the person legally entitled to manage the affairs of the person lacking capacity) and what level of supervision they need.

The deputy will be supervised by the court and will be required to submit accounts on a yearly basis.

The application can take some time to complete as a large amount of information needs to be included although the Court of Protection can make some restricted orders more quickly for certain urgent matters.

We can help you with

• How and what you need to do to enable you to make an application to manage someone’s affairs through the Court of Protection.
• What to do if you are concerned about someone and whether they are managing.
• What to do if there is a dispute between family members or with the local authority (social services) regarding a person’s care or financial affairs.
• How you can apply to make gifts or plan for future inheritance tax liabilities.
• How you can apply to make a statutory Will for the person who lacks capacity of they don’t have one.

We are conscious of the often sensitive nature of our work. We offer a highly individual and efficient service and a member of our Private Client Team will be pleased to discuss with you how we can help you with the application and give you any advice that you require.