It’s recently been highlighted in the press that there are significant shortfalls in the Court of Protection system which ironically should work to protect the affairs of vulnerable people.
It’s usually the onset of a mentally incapacitating illness that means that a person cannot look after their own financial or healthcare affairs. When this happens an application to appoint a family member or some other person as their Deputy is made to the Court of Protection. It’s here were the Court of Protection’s involvement begins.
The Court of Protection Order then authorises the Deputy to make decisions about, and manage the affairs of a mentally incapacitated person, ensuring that bills, care fees and other expenses can be paid on their behalf.
Unfortunately what is not always made clear is that Deputies can be asked to place significant sums of money in a special account that is run by the Court. This then makes it necessary to apply to the Court if large sums are required for the use and benefit of the mentally incapacitated person.
Occasionally, a Court Order may also be necessary to authorise the sale of someone’s property, for example if they move to residential or nursing care.
Media coverage has also focussed on the fees the Court levy for each of these applications and the time it takes to obtain the authority to manage finances and the need to apply for funds from the special account.
With such scrutiny in the media, people may consider how to avoid involving the Court of Protection. As long as someone has the necessary mental capacity, a Lasting Power of Attorney (“LPA”) could actually be a more suitable answer.
There are two formats to the LPAs. The first deals with property and financial affairs, the second deals with health and welfare decisions.
The choice of the Attorney is then personal and the law states that the Attorney must act in the person’s best interests. It makes sense to appoint a trusted family member or close friend to make these important financial or health decisions.
The Attorney, effectively, steps into that person’s shoes to deal with the day to day issues that they no longer deal with personally. This is of course particularly useful in the event of an emergency or physical disability, but an LPA can also be used after the onset of mental incapacity.
Although an LPA must also be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it is valid, making one is far simpler than an application to the Court of Protection and once this is in place, it may not be necessary to use the authority granted by the LPA immediately. However that person knows that should the need arise there is someone to help in the future.
The answer is therefore clear. In order to avoid the need for a Court of Protection application, an LPA is the easiest solution to ensure that your affairs during your lifetime are managed as you would wish them to be. We are able to offer LPAs at a fixed price of £400 plus VAT. We also offer to visit any person at their place of residence in order to prepare and execute the LPA.
By wills and probate solicitor, Jill Rushton