Court of protection

dmg24

Age Concern or most mental health charities should be able to help you.

I have experience of the CoP from a legal perspective, and although it does seem far too beaurocratic, it is this way for the right reasons. Whilst most applicants are genuine and only want the best for their loved ones, sadly there are others who wish to abuse the system. The current system minimises the latter.

Payless_2

That's a good idea. Thanks :T. I'll try that in the holidays.

mel_wing

My uncle has applied to be Deputy for the court of protection for my Grandmother. As family members my sister and I have been sent paperwork giving us an opportunity to say we do not agree with this. However we are unclear what we are agree with or against. We want the best for our Grandmother but she has dementure and after the death of my Grandfather a lot of finances are tied up as she has been deemed unfit to make these decisions. My Uncle I believe will make good decisions about her stocks and shares and investments etc but has little to do with her day to day needs. My mother lives round the corner from her nursing home and is the one dealing with her shopping and general wellbeing. She has been told they cannot share deputyship but Im not sure if this is true. My Uncle says he will be setting up an account for my Mum to make day to day spendings from but I guess he will get to say how much is held in this account? I am concerned that he could have the power to change her will (though it was written before she was deamed unfit) Is this something he can do?
All the info says the court decided what he can and cant be responsible for based on varying people and what is applied for. Should i ask for a copy of his application? Surely we should know what he's getting rights over?
Im worried he could take all control away from my Mother and Grandmother.

Can anyone advice me? I have less than 20 days to state I do not want this to go ahead. I dont know what is best. I also dont want to start family rows at this difficult time.

stevemLS

Mel_wing

A Deputy can have as much or as little control as the court orders.

It is usual to have power over "property and affairs" and/or "health and welfare".

Neither will give the Deputy power to make a new will. A new will for an incapacitated adult can only be made by a Court - a "statutory will" - which the Court will only Order if there is good reason.

If you go to the Official Solicitor's website and search for statutory will, there are a couple of quite comprehensive articles.

Steve.

shirlgirl2004

I have recently been through this with my sister. We are joint Deputies for our brother. Apart from a few pages for the most part we had just one form. We could not find a solicitor willing to help. You just need to fill the forms in as best you can. A word of warning though make sure you apply for every possible thing you will need. They tried to charge us for a new application to make an insurance claim but fortunately we proved it was their mistake and we had asked for the power to do this is the original order. The only people grabbing my brother's money is the COP.

When you apply for a court order you have to inform interested parties (relatives) that you have applied for the order and then they should be served with a copy of the application.

Payless_2

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I have recently been through this with my sister. We are joint Deputies for our brother. Apart from a few pages for the most part we had just one form. We could not find a solicitor willing to help. You just need to fill the forms in as best you can. A word of warning though make sure you apply for every possible thing you will need. They tried to charge us for a new application to make an insurance claim but fortunately we proved it was their mistake and we had asked for the power to do this is the original order. The only people grabbing my brother's money is the COP.

When you apply for a court order you have to inform interested parties (relatives) that you have applied for the order and then they should be served with a copy of the application.

This is one of the things that worries me. We are bound to forget to put something on the form as It is so hard to remeber everything. I'm just making a list and adding to it as I think of things. I wonder why I've got so many forms . We have to ask for permission and then there's one for health and welfare and another for financial matters as well as 2 general application forms, forms for the GP etc. It's never ending.

We have informed Mam's close relatives and they fully support us.

Payless_2

mel_wing wrote: »

My uncle has applied to be Deputy for the court of protection for my Grandmother. As family members my sister and I have been sent paperwork giving us an opportunity to say we do not agree with this. However we are unclear what we are agree with or against. We want the best for our Grandmother but she has dementure and after the death of my Grandfather a lot of finances are tied up as she has been deemed unfit to make these decisions. My Uncle I believe will make good decisions about her stocks and shares and investments etc but has little to do with her day to day needs. My mother lives round the corner from her nursing home and is the one dealing with her shopping and general wellbeing. She has been told they cannot share deputyship but Im not sure if this is true. My Uncle says he will be setting up an account for my Mum to make day to day spendings from but I guess he will get to say how much is held in this account? I am concerned that he could have the power to change her will (though it was written before she was deamed unfit) Is this something he can do?
All the info says the court decided what he can and cant be responsible for based on varying people and what is applied for. Should i ask for a copy of his application? Surely we should know what he's getting rights over?
Im worried he could take all control away from my Mother and Grandmother.

Can anyone advice me? I have less than 20 days to state I do not want this to go ahead. I dont know what is best. I also dont want to start family rows at this difficult time.

Your uncle is likely to be closely monitored by the court of protection if your mother has substantial assets. Also, if your mother has dementia she is not fit enough to change her will as she is not of "sound mind" and your uncle certainly could not do that whatever power he gets. There are 2 types of deputyship and it seems that your uncle has applied for deputyship over property and affairs. Your mother could apply for health and welfare deputyship as far as I know.

Both my brother and myself are applying together for both deputyships for my Mother. I am applying and I just put his name on the relevant forms (or so one advisor told me). I suppose if you are really worried you could protest to the court about your uncle having sole deputyship and put yourself forward as a joint deputy. But if your only worry is that he will be able to manipulate your mother's finances to his own advantage there is probably no need. At the very least he will have to submit accounts every year to account for any money that has been spent. The amount of control he has will be decided by the court but they will keep an eye on him whatever is granted. He cannot spend her money as he likes. She should be consulted whenever possible.

It really is a minefield.

Norant

This is a massive thing to go through,i have a lawyer who specialises in power of attorney and i have found it invaluable.

for the act of a car accident that has left my brother with all of these complications the act of trying to do the right thing by him you feel like you are constantly jumping over hurdles,a good solicitor will help you.

choose wisely and i wish you all good luck.