Court of Protection

If you have a loved one that no longer has the mental capacity to manage on their own in relation to their health and welfare and/or their property and financial matters, it is likely they will need your help. A person may lose mental capacity due to illness, such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease etc, or as a result of a stroke, an injury or a developmental condition.

Gaining Power of Attorney

If your loved one does not have a Power of Attorney i.e. they have not appointed someone to deal with these matters for them, it is likely an application will have to be made to the Court of Protection so that important decisions can be made on their behalf.
The Court of Protection is a specialist court which protects the rights and interests of people who have lost the mental capacity to make important decisions on their own and/or are not capable of dealing with their own affairs.

Appointing a Deputy

The application to the Court of Protection will either be to ask the court to make a specific decision on behalf of your loved one or to appoint a person (or more than one person), called a Deputy, to have the legal right to make ongoing decisions on behalf of your loved one and to manage their affairs. The Deputy can be a member of your loved one’s family or a close friend. However, if you, a member of your family or a close friend do not wish to take on the role of the Deputy, or if there is nobody to act as Deputy, a Solicitor can be appointed as your loved one’s Deputy.

Mental Capacity

The application will need medical evidence to confirm your loved one’s mental capacity.

When the Court of Protection has approved the application, the Deputy (or Deputies) will have the legal right to make decisions for, and manage the affairs of, your loved one. The Deputy will also have to provide an annual report to the court to confirm what has been done on behalf of your loved one.

We can help and support you with your application to the Court of Protection, as follows:

•  To apply for you to act as Deputy or to apply for Leech & Co to act as Deputy
•  Apply to the Court of Protection to make a specific, one-off decision
• Request that a Statutory Will is made for your loved one 
• Obtain the medical evidence in relation to your loved one’s mental capacity
• Assist you with the annual report or prepare the annual report to the court

Disputing Deputy Decisions

We can also help you if a person has already applied to be Deputy and you are not happy with that person performing the role or if a Deputy has been appointed and you are not happy with how the Deputy is handling matters.

We can help you with the following:

•  Contest an application to be made a Deputy
• Appeal a Deputy’s decision
•  Submit an application to become a Deputy against another application

Find out more about the Court of Protection and how we can help you by clicking the buttons below: