Non Contentious - Court of Protection
The Court of Protection exists to look after the financial affairs of those people who no longer have the mental capacity to do so themselves.
The Court does not intervene without an application by relatives or others such as friends or neighbours who may have become concerned about someone and their apparent inability to manage their own affairs satisfactorily.
The Court of Protection is not an organisation to be feared or dreaded and, indeed, its role is to be welcomed. The sole interest of the Court is the person whose affairs need to be looked after.
The Court will ensure that a Deputy is appointed to act on behalf of the incapacitated person the role of the Deputy is to act, effectively, as a Manager and Trustee over the affairs of the incapacitated person.
The Deputy can be a family member or can be a professional.
Dependent upon the needs of the person concerned and the nature of that person's affairs, the role can be time consuming. Whilst using a family member can appear to save expense, using a professional also will provide a degree of expertise and independent that will not be available from a close family member in all cases.
If, in a particular case, a dispute arising within the family or amongst any friends who are seeking to be appointed, then the independency of a professional Deputy will be invaluable.
The Court of Protection is linked to the Public Guardianship Office - the latter being the administrative arm of the Court of Protection established in 2001. It took over from the former Public Trust Office. The purpose of the Public Guardianship Office is to provide services that promote the financial and social well being of mentally incapacitated persons.
The Public Guardianship Office protects whose without capacity by managing their Deputies after they have been appointed by the Court of Protection and this is done by calling for annual financial accounts and reports and also providing supporting to families as well as to advisers of those who are incapacitated.
Swayne Johnson can offer considerable help to the families and friends of persons who through illness or accident have become mentally incapacitated. The families and friends are often reluctant to enter into a formal arrangement through a Court. However, lawyers at Swayne Johnson are well use to the process (as can be shown from the fact that two of them have been Court appointed Deputies for some years) and can advise not only on the obtaining of a Court of Protection Order and the management of it but also on linked issues such as Tax Planning for the incapacitated person and drawing up a Statutory Will - a Statutory Will being a document that is drawn up to act as a Will for a person even though they themselves no longer have the mental capacity to do so.
Select from one of our Probate Law specialists to help you with your legal issue
Sarah Noton - Director & Solicitor
Richard Chamberlain - Director & Solicitor
Lynette Viney-Passig - Director & Solicitor
Judy Lewis - Associate Solicitor
Marc Thomas - Assistant Solicitor
Rachel Brown - Assistant Solicitor
Emma Deering - Legal Executive
Disclaimer: Please note that the information set out on these pages does not constitute professional legal advice. Swayne Johnson
Ltd accepts no liability for any loss howsoever arising as a consequence of reliance on the information herein. We strongly recommend
that you contact one of our specialist lawyers for advice on your particular circumstances.
