There is a particular kind of family stalemate that arrives after a stroke or a sudden decline. The mortgage still needs paying, the care fees are mounting, the pension is landing in an account nobody can touch, and every organisation says the same thing: we cannot discuss this with you.

If the person made a lasting power of attorney before they lost capacity, the answer is straightforward. If they did not, the family has to ask a court for authority. That court is the Court of Protection.

What the court is for

The Court of Protection makes decisions on financial and welfare matters for people who cannot make those decisions themselves. Its published functions include deciding whether someone has the mental capacity to make a particular decision, appointing deputies to make ongoing decisions, giving people permission to make one-off decisions, handling urgent or emergency applications, and considering objections to the registration of a power of attorney.

It is not a criminal court and it is not adversarial by design. Most applications are dealt with on paper, without anybody attending a hearing.

Deputyship, in plain terms

A deputy is a person appointed by the court to make decisions for someone who lacks capacity. GOV.UK guidance on becoming a deputy sets out that there are two types, and that they are applied for separately.

  • A property and financial affairs deputy can pay bills, manage bank accounts and investments, deal with a pension, and organise the sale of a property when the court permits it.

  • A personal welfare deputy makes decisions about medical treatment and how someone is looked after. The court appoints these far less often, and usually only where there is a specific ongoing dispute to resolve.

You must be 18 or over to apply. Applications are commonly made by an adult child, spouse or sibling, but where there is no suitable family member a professional deputy or the local authority may be appointed instead.

The costs, and why they surprise people

The fees are published and they are not trivial.

  • The application fee is £432. If you are applying to be both a property and affairs deputy and a personal welfare deputy, you pay it twice.

  • If the court decides your case needs a hearing, there is a further £266.

  • New deputies pay a one-off assessment fee of £100.

  • There is then an annual supervision fee: £320 for general supervision, or £35 for minimal supervision, which applies to some property and affairs deputies managing smaller amounts.

A property and affairs deputy may also be required to take out a security bond before being appointed — insurance, in effect, against the deputy mishandling the money. Reductions in fees are available where the person concerned receives certain benefits or has an income below £12,000.

Set against the £92 registration fee for a lasting power of attorney made in advance, the financial argument for planning ahead makes itself.

Supervision does not stop once you are appointed

Deputyship is a supervised role. The Office of the Public Guardian, whose remit includes supervising deputies appointed by the court and investigating concerns about attorneys and deputies, monitors deputies for as long as the appointment lasts. Deputies file annual reports on what they have spent and decided.

The underlying duties are those of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Every decision must be made in the person's best interests, must start from the assumption that they can decide for themselves, and must be the least restrictive option available. GOV.UK guidance on making decisions for someone else and the Mental Capacity Act code of practice set the standard, and a deputy who ignores it can be removed.

Practical consequences follow. The person's money is theirs, not the family's. Gifts are tightly limited. Larger steps, including selling the family home or making a will on the person's behalf, need the court's specific permission.

How long it takes

Deputyship applications are measured in months rather than weeks, because the court needs a capacity assessment, notice to the person concerned and to family members, and time for objections. That gap is the practical problem: bills continue to arrive during it. Where a decision genuinely cannot wait, the court can be asked to deal with an urgent or emergency application, or to authorise a single one-off decision rather than a full deputyship.

Different rules elsewhere in the UK

Scotland does not use the Court of Protection. Guardianship and intervention orders are granted by the sheriff court and registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland). Northern Ireland has its own framework, and nidirect explains the enduring power of attorney and controllership arrangements used there.

For advice on an individual application, the Law Society of England and Wales runs a public find a solicitor service, and Citizens Advice publishes free guidance on managing affairs for someone else.

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