Court of protection deputyship

[rhetorician]

hello - after much to-ing and fro-ing (I'll spare you the details which will be all too familiar to most of you) my mum is in discharge to assess waiting for a permanent residential placement. She is a self-funder (and her assets are quite significant, though her income is small) and I need to apply to the CoP for deputyship. This should be straightforward - she owns her house outright and I am her sole beneficiary and NOK. But I'm wondering if anyone knows how long the process might take? The issue is that until the order is granted I can't use the house to generate income and she will just be burning through her capital.

I guess I should also take some in the round financial advice, given that whilst she has dementia, she is otherwise fairly medically well for an 89 year old...

TIA

@Absc - they might not be too happy, but in the absence of better options, this would seem to apply anthonygold.co.uk/latest/blog/the-overseas-court-of-protection-deputy

I just lost the long post I wrote!

You don't notify anyone until after you have submitted your application and the Court has 'issued' it. They will return the COP 1 with a case number and an issue date (needed for subsequent forms and communication) and tell you that you now need to notify the patient and three interested parties within 14 days.

The patient is to be notified in person (does not need to be you). You will need to complete a cop 14 for the patient to read or have read to them. You will also need to provide form COP 5 to them. This is completed by them or someone on their behalf if they want to object, be involved or ask other information from the court. The person who notifies the patient completes and returns cop 20a to the court.

The three interested parties can be notified by post or email with form COP 15 (and 5 again as above). You complete COP20b to confirm notification and return to court. Court prefers to receive the COP 20a and 20b at the same time.

There is a certain amount of time allowed for the parties to contact the court if they wish to do so. I can't remember how long they have.

If everything is fine at this point and no one has objected etc you may not hear anything for a little while.

If the social worker is not happy about you being the deputy for whatever reason she will need to let the court know.

Thank you. I have read the website page over and over and it looks like you notify and then submit completed forms to me - especially if submitting online where you upload all documentation at the same time. But you sound like you have specialist knowledge! This is what I'm following www.gov.uk/become-deputy/apply-property-financial-affairs-deputy

SW fully supportive of the application btw

Wow yes you are right. There were a lot of calls to try and streamline and quicken the process but I'm still surprised it actually happened! I was involved in a number of applications but haven't been in ASC for a few years so sorry about getting that wrong.

That's ok - I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. It does look fairly straightforward although the actual forms required are exactly as you described. Thank you very much!

Further to previous discussion, court has come back to say that the COP3 capacity form doesn't address how mum's impairment impacts her ability to make financial and property decisions and that I need another form. My experience previously was that no NHS person would fill this in except privately and even that was tricky. There are companies that do it, but it's £750! The fee was £341 for the application, and many of these companies won't act without a solicitor's instruction. Does anyone have experience of these types of company?

I sent in the application with an MCA report, the DOLS reports and the memory clinic assessment and diagnosis. I don't really understand why this isn't sufficient?

As I posted previously I had a private psychiatric report for £500. I used a firm of solicitors who specialise in this area and honestly their assistance is invaluable. They connected me to the private psychiatrist. I really would seek professional advice. Look up firms that act as Deputies themselves and go from there.

My relative is so badly brain damaged he cannot possibly have capacity. The solicitors pointed out to me that a psych report would still be required even though there is a Deputyship in place already. It really is belt and braces unless you want delays and problems down the line!

This is why I chose to instruct a solicitor to complete the application. The initial forms were submitted mid November, interested parties received letters just before Christmas and I received notification from the CoP of the ‘award’ of the Deputyship last week. I then had to buy a bond which is sent back to the CoP directly from the company, and expect to hear back from the CoP any day now.

I have no advice but wanted to say how
sorry I am that it’s complex

Thanks @Oaktree55 @Soontobe60 and @SheilaFentiman I don't have a solicitor and nor does my mum and lots of people suggested that a solicitor wasn't necessary as the case isn't particularly complex. The application is in now so I guess all I can do is comply with what the court has requested - not much point getting a solicitor involved at this point, is there? I'm irritated because the COP3 form lists a social worker as an appropriate person to complete it but now the court won't accept her report. I guess the upshot is that if I can't arrange the application from outside the UK I can't act as deputy either. In which case the whole thing will revert to the LA and I will have no say, which seems...odd...

Yes my advice perhaps more suited to others reading. Professional advice is worth its weight in gold whatever the subject matter (expensive as it may be, normally you always come out better off for it).

Good luck.

Yes, I agree in retrospect...

Update for others who may find useful. Solicitor e mailed the Court of Protection have accepted my application and document being drafted. They submitted mid January this year and despite warnings of 12 months looks like it should be significantly faster for me (again I suspect having a solicitor front the application and all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed helped). Big relief anyway.

@rhetorician how did you get on?

It looks like I may be going down this route and have found this thread invaluable.

You don't need a lawyer. It is ridiculously bureaucratic with several forms to fill in and then they have to be copied and sent to various people etc. However it is not worth spending hundreds on a lawyer at all.