Our Guides & FAQs

If someone you know has lost mental capacity and you wish to be appointed as a deputy. There are two types of deputy. You can apply to be just one type or both.

Property and financial affairs deputy – you will be able to manage the person’s financial affairs, for example, paying the person’s bills or organising their pensions or investments

Personal welfare deputy – you will be able to make decisions about medical treatment and how someone is looked after.

The person may have appointed attorney(s) under an Enduring Power of Attorney and/or Lasting Power of Attorney, in which case it may not be necessary to apply to become a deputy.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

See our Pricing page for a summary of our fees and court costs.

A deputy is someone appointed by the Court of Protection to deal with the affairs of a person who lacks mental capacity. You can apply to be a deputy if you are 18 years old or over. Deputies are usually close relatives or friends of the person who lacks mental capacity. The court can appoint 2 or more deputies for the same person. It is also possible for accountants, solicitors or representative of the local authority to be appointed to act as paid deputies.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

As a deputy, you are responsible for helping someone make decisions or making decisions on their behalf.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

When making decisions, you have the following responsibilities. You must :-

• Make sure the decision is in the other person’s best interests
• Consider their past decision making
• Apply a high standard of care – this may involve consulting with family or professionals
• Do your best to communicate your decision to the other person and facilitate their own decision making, as far as possible.
• Record your decision making
• Keep your property and money separate from the other person’s

You must not:-

• Restrain the person, unless to prevent harm
• Stop life-sustaining medical treatment
• Take advantage of your position – i.e. profit from the decision you have taken
• Make a will for the person, or change their existing will, save for a Statutory Will, made by application to the Court of Protection
• Make gifts, unless a court order approves that decision making capability
• Hold any money or property in your own name on the person’s behalf

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

You can make a report to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). You can report your concerns to the OPG. The OPG will then check it has the legal authority investigate.

Office of the Public Guardian
[email protected]
Telephone: 0115 934 2777

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

You must keep accounts and follow the rules for gifts and expenses if you’re acting as deputy for someone else. You must also record transactions in your annual report.

Note: (1) the court order will say if you can buy or give gifts. (2) You may be required to pay money back if expenses are considered unreasonable.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

You may need to apply to the Court of Protection for example for an order enabling you to make decisions that are not in the original court order or for permission to make a one-off decision on something not covered by your court order.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

Yes, you can apply to the Court of Protection if you want to make (or change) a Will on behalf of someone who cannot do it themselves. You can apply to the Court of Protection for an emergency decision on a Statutory Will if the person you’re applying for only has a short time to live.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

In the absence of an attorney appointed under an Enduring Power of Attorney or Lasting Power of Attorney, an application will need to be made to the Court of Protection for an order appointing someone to act on behalf of the incapable legal owner.

Where there is an attorney, then provided the co-owner has a beneficial interest in the property and there is no indication that the co-owner did not want the attorney to exercise his/her trustee functions, then the attorney will be able to act with you in the sale of the property. Where you are the attorney for your co-owner, you can (as attorney) appoint a new trustee to act with you.

You will need to consider whether an application to the Court of Protection is still required (for example, (1) someone may need to be appointed to manage the person’s share of the proceeds of sale on their behalf; or (2) you are selling to a friend of relative – this would require disclosure to the court and suitable valuations obtained)

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.

You must send an application notice to the Court of Protection. If you no longer wish to be a deputy because the person has recovered mental capacity, then you need to notify the Court of Protection with supporting evidence from a doctor. If the person has died, then you should contact the Office of the Public Guardian.

Read our Guide to the Court of Protection.