When to appoint a Deputy
A deputy is appointed if someone is unable to make decisions for themselves owing to their incapacity. This person lacking capacity is known as P which stands for Patient. A deputy is appointed by the court to make decisions for them. This deputy is usually a family member (spouse, partner, adult child, brother or sister) or a friend of P. If no one is willing or can be found to be the deputy the solicitors at Linley James Solicitors can be appointed.
Types of Deputyship
There are two types of deputyship a financial and a health & welfare deputy.
The financial deputy makes decisions in regards to P’s bank account or other financial matters. It is possible to appoint more than one deputy; acting either jointly (both deputies have to decide all decisions) or jointly and severally (deputies can decide together or independently of each other). Some decisions may require authority from the court, for example if P’s house needs to be sold the court should be informed of this.
In regards to health and welfare deputyships. The court is hesitant to grant these indicating that decisions can be made in the best interests of the person lacking capacity by the multidisciplinary team. Linley James Solicitors will however assist you in making a health and welfare deputy application. We have devised questions to assist you in creating witness statements to support the deputyship application.
Urgent / Interim Applications
Urgent applications can be made to manage arising immediate concerns. For example if P is being financially supported by relatives who are now running out of money to pay P’s care fees.
Contested Deputy Applications
Most deputy applications are uncontested as there is support from P’s family and friends to appoint the chosen deputies. Sometimes there are disputes in families over who should be appointed as deputy. If there are concerns it can be useful to ensure P’s family knows that a deputy application is being made, who is being appointed as deputy and have had an opportunity to air their views on this appointment. This can often reduce the risk of someone objecting. If someone does object this is frequently best managed by a dispute hearing where both parties resolve their concerns through mediation. Linley James Solicitors can assist you with this.
Application Fee
Linley James Solicitors charges the government statutory fee of £1200 to make a deputy application. If there are other charges we will notify you of these. The court charges and application fee of £408. This can be reduced if P is currently in receipt of welfare benefits.
Deputyship Application Process
Firstly there is the necessity to confirm the person concerned lacks mental capacity. This can be done by asking their doctor or a social worker to complete the relevant court form. If they are reluctant to do this Linley James Solicitors can organise a social worker to conduct an assessment. Before an application is submitted we need to notify at least three people and the person concerned that an application is to be made to the court. Once these people have confirmed they have no objections an application can be submitted to the court. There are limited circumstances were it may be necessary to notify someone who may object to the application. A financial application on average takes about 3 to 4 months with the solicitor using the online application portal. If the online portal is not used it can take around 9 to 10 months for an application to be granted.
If someone does object to the deputy application we can assist you to manage this objection.
Craig Ward of Lundie one of the solicitors at Linley James Solicitors wrote the textbook on Lasting Powers of Attorney which includes information on deputyships. It’s available from the Law Society and online bookshops.
Call us now to speak to our dedicated Deputyship team on 0207 060 1210