Court of Protection Panel Deputy Appointed

Posted on June 3, 2011 in General
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Wolferstans Solicitors are pleased to announce that Samantha Buckthought, Partner and Head of the Wills and Trust Department has been appointed to the Official Panel of Professional Deputies for the Court of Protection.

The Court of Protection is a body who oversees the affairs of individuals who lack mental capacity. A Court of Protection Deputy is someone who is appointed to act for an individual where they lack mental capacity.

The Court of Protection maintains a list of approved Professional Deputies for clients in situations where nobody close to the client is willing or able to act. The Panel was previously 250 in number, but the Court of Protection recently announced an overhaul of Panel Deputyships and invited applications to join the new Panel.

The new Panel amounts to just 60 Panel Deputies and, and the rigorous eight week application process attracted over 10 applications for every place on the Panel

The appointment means that the Court of Protection may now call upon Samantha to act as an Independent Deputy for an incapacitated person, where there is no family member or friend able to act or whether circumstances dictate that the persons affairs would be better dealt with by an Independent Professional. Predominantly this appointment would cover any one in this situation in the Plymouth and Cornwall regions.

Samantha commented “I am delighted to accept this prestigious appointment, which is not just personal recognition, but is also reflective of the hard work and expertise of all the members of my team and Wolferstans as a whole. My appointment to the Panel will mean that we will be able to help clients who we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to and, with more and more people losing mental capacity every year, it will enable us to assist family members at what is such a difficult time.”

Samantha heads up a team of 9 specialist lawyers who cover all elements of Court of Protection, Wills, Trusts, and Estate work.

Samantha Buckthought can be contacted on 01752 292216.