Court of Protection Solicitors

The reality of modern society is that each of us will be faced with the possibility of losing capacity or dealing with a family member who has lost capacity to manage their affairs. This is when the Court of Protection steps in if there is no attorney.

The aim of the Court of Protection is to protect and empower people who do not have the mental capacity to make decisions whether this is due to age, illness or accident.

The Court of Protection will authorise someone to be appointed as a deputy for the vulnerable person, who is tasked with supporting them to manage their affairs. It is a challenging task and one that should not be taken lightly, with reporting requirements to the Office of the Public Guardian including an annual financial report.

In some instances, it will be a family member, spouse or friend who is appointed to act, however if there is no-one suitable or willing to take on the role, the Court of Protection will select a member from its Panel of Professional Deputies.

At Wolferstans, we have a specialist Court of Protection team who understand the complex issues which can arise when a person lacks or loses the mental capacity to manage their own property and financial affairs.

Our Court of Protection solicitors can advise you on:

• Lasting Powers of Attorney
• Becoming a Court of Protection deputy
• Acting as a Court of Protection deputy
• Appointing a professional Court of Protection deputy
• Making routine or contested applications to the Court of Protection
• Compensation Protection Trusts referred to as Personal Injury Trust previously
• Care funding
• Advice to family members who are appointed as deputies or attorneys.

Our Court of Protection team is headed by Samantha Buckthought. Samantha is one of only about 70 Panel Deputies in England and Wales able to act as a professional Deputy where there is no one willing or able to carry out the role.

To become a Panel Deputy, professionals must undergo a rigorous selection process and show that they meet all the Deputy standards when managing their cases. The Court of Protection will refer cases to Panel Deputies when there is no-one willing or able to act for a person.

Our experienced team carry out the day to day work, although the responsibility for decisions rests with Samantha as the appointed Deputy. The team prides itself on being client focused and caring and having a large team provides a wealth of experience.

Find out more about our Court of Protection team.

How our Court of Protection solicitors can help you

Applying to become a Court of Protection Deputy

We assist those who wish to apply to be appointed as a Deputy for Property and Affairs and/or Health and Welfare. This service is normally conducted for a fixed fee.

We will prepare the application forms and deal with the application on your behalf. When the Order appointing you as Deputy is received from the Court of Protection, matters are then handed back to you to deal with the day-to-day management of the person’s affairs.

The Court of Protection usually authorises the appointed Deputy to pay all fees from the estate of the person that lacks capacity.

Acting as a Professional Deputy

We can apply to the Court of Protection for our Panel Deputy Samantha Buckthought, to be appointed as Deputy for property and financial affairs. She currently acts as Deputy for many clients, each of whom lacks capacity in varying circumstances.

Samantha has an experienced team who manage the day-to-day financial affairs for clients. Samantha Buckthought is a Partner and one of a small number of Panel Deputies in the South West appointed by the Office of the Public Guardian.

She currently acts as Deputy for many clients, each of whom lacks capacity in varying circumstances; for example:

• Elderly clients
• Clients with head and brain injuries
• Clients with learning disabilities
• Clients with mental health problems
• Clients with compensation settlements following litigation
• Clients living in care homes or in the community
• Isolated clients and clients without relatives or with estranged families

Advice for Court of Protection Deputies & Attorneys

Our Court of Protection solicitors provide advice and assistance to help you in the initial stages of the Deputyship or acting as an Attorney. This can include registering the Court Order appointing you as Deputy, help with setting up accounts and records and providing advice on health and social care funding. This will usually be for a fixed fee.

One-off Court of Protection applications

We can assist with one off applications to the Court of Protection. For example, applications to sell property, to appoint trustees and to make gifts. We also provide ad-hoc advice to existing Deputies in relation to their role. This could include assisting with annual reports, complying with other obligations, and best interests meetings including representing you.

For a fixed fee; clients can opt for our retainer service, in which we assist with or control certain day-to-day roles of the Deputy and be on hand to support the Deputy wherever necessary.

Contested Court of Protection applications

Conflicts can sometimes arise when an application is made to the Court of Protection, whether this is for someone to become a Deputy or to deal with a one-off matter (such as selling a vulnerable person’s home).

These conflicts typically centre on disagreements about what is in the best interests of the vulnerable person in question and can become very complicated and heated if the right approach is not taken.

Our Court of Protection solicitors can assist with both contesting and defending Court of Protection applications. Wherever possible, we will seek an amicable solution, but at all times, we will ensure the best interests of the vulnerable person are protected.

Making a Statutory Will

If a person does not have the mental capacity to make a will, then in order to make or change a Will, you can apply to make a Will on their behalf. This is known as a Statutory Will.

We can advise you as to whether a statutory will should be considered and if so, make an application to the Court of Protection.

Advice about health and social care funding

We offer a one hour fixed fee session in which one of Court of Protection team will provide advice about how the health and social care funding system works and how to ensure that the person for whom you are Deputy or Attorney (or yourself) is receiving the care they need and are entitled to.

We can also undertake further work to challenge inadequate care and support packages.

Compensation Protection/Personal Injury Trusts:

We can provide advice about setting up Compensation Protection Trusts, also known as Personal Injury Trusts, and prepare the Trust Deed. Wolferstans can also act as professional trustees in Compensation Protection Trusts.

Find out more about Personal Injury Trusts.

Expert Witness Work

We offer a dedicated expert witness service. The Panel Deputy, Samantha Buckthought, can prepare expert reports for litigation purposes and can advise during the course of litigation as to the costs of, practicalities and issues surrounding Deputyships.

During such matters it is very important to have expert involvement at an early stage to ensure that such matters are appropriately considered and costed.

We have lawyers who are members of the Law Society Private Client Section, Solicitors for the Elderly and an affiliated member of STEP (Society for Trusts and Estate Practitioners). You can therefore have full confidence that our team are accredited and recognised as specialists in their field.

Arranging care funding for people without mental capacity

Where someone with dementia or other mental capacity issues is currently living in, or needs to be moved into, a care home, there can be issues with accessing their finances to pay for their care fees.

This is a very common issue amongst people who lose capacity. The first thing to do would be to consider whether a Lasting Power of Attorney/Enduring Power of Attorney (LPA/EPA) is in place appointing an Attorney/s to act in relation to your relative’s property and financial affairs.

If there is no LPA/EPA in place, your relative may still be able to make an LPA, otherwise an application to the Court of Protection to appoint a Deputy will be necessary. Usually, the application is for a close relative or friend to act as Deputy but if you can also apply for a professional such as a Solicitor to act.

If there is no-one willing or able to act or any dispute it is likely that the Court will appoint a Deputy from the Panel. These are Deputies who are specialists who have been selected by the Office of the Public Guardian to be on their Panel. Samantha Buckthought of Wolferstans is a Panel Deputy.

Find out more about funding care.

Court of Protection costs & legal fees

Court of Protection fees

The Court application fee is currently £371. However, depending on the person’s income and capital, there are exemptions.

The fee for completing the COP 3 form which is the Capacity Assessment. Depending on who completes the COP 3 Capacity Assessment, the fee can be anywhere between £0.00 - £500.

The Bond premium. Before the Court releases the Order appointing the Deputy, a security bond must be put in place. This is insurance in case the Deputy acts negligently, and the amount of the Bond will be based on the incapacitated person’s estate and whether or not the Deputy is a professional.

The Office of the Public Guardian fees for the supervision of the Deputy are £100 for the appointment of the Deputy and £320 for the annual supervision, or £35 if minimal assets. There are exemptions available depending on the incapacitated person’s income and capital.

There are also fixed costs for conveyancing matters involving a person who has a professional Deputy and for Trustee applications.

Solicitors fees for Court of Protection applications

The Court of Protection sets a fixed fee for Deputy applications which is £950 plus VAT. However, in our experience the cost for completing this application is between £1,500 and £2,500 plus VAT.

You can request that the costs are assessed by the Court and the Court will then decide what it is reasonable for the Solicitor to charge. The situation for personal welfare Deputy applications is different as the costs are not usually paid from the person’s funds.

Usually, but not always, the Final Order appointing you or the Solicitor as Deputy authorises the costs of the application to be paid from the person’s (who has lost capacity) funds.

Professional Court of Protection Deputy fees

If a Professional is appointed as Deputy, they can charge for managing a person’s affairs. The Court sets fixed fees for professional Deputies, which are:

• £1670.00 plus VAT for the first year
• £1320.00 plus VAT thereafter

However, if the Deputy’s costs are above the fixed fee and the assets are of a level where it would be reasonable to do so, the Deputy has the option to ask the court to assess costs.

In cases where the incapacitated person’s assets are under £16,000, the professional can only charge 4.5 % including VAT of the person’s assets each year.