Court of protection

pothole65

Just a little background history.
My mother in law was admitted to a care home October 2019 because of dementia and was a danger to herself roaming the streets at night in her dressing gown and nightie. See was questioned by numerous people of the medical profession and was certified as not being to make decisions for herself and the medical staff took the decision and moved her to a care home. Initially we had trouble with the social asking us to pay £1000 a month towards the cost, but when they found out what see was worth they agreed to pay it all, providing this was paid back once we had deputyship over property and finances. We went to see a solicitor on October 12th to ask them to obtain the deputyship, and was charged half their fees plus court costs. Today 10 months after the initial meeting we have 7 copies of the order through the post which was granted on the 4th May !!!! and the final bill from the solicitor. So out of my mother in laws estate has come the solicitors fee, the court fee and the bond fee, now when reading through the leaflets sent with the order it looks like we have to fork out another £100 for a appointment fee to the office of public guardian. 

My question after my long winded explanation is have I read this correctly and will there be any more annual costs apart from the bond fee.

My wife and myself are her only family and have been looking after my mother in law and her affairs now for four years after my father in law passed away, my wife being a third signature for money from her building society passbook account to pay the bills and purchase food, with all receipts kept and a spread sheet produced to account for ever penny, and that did not cost her a thing. 

So it’s cost my mother in law £1422 for a piece of paper telling us we can now do what we have been doing for 4 years but we can do it legally, and it looks like someone else now wants a piece of the pie.

elsien

All the fee information is here.
https://www.gov.uk/become-deputy/fees
You may have been managing MILs money for 4 years but the third party bank mandates ceased to be lawful when MIL lost capacity around her finances.
The point of the deputyship is as a safeguard both for MIL to ensure that all decisions made are in her best interests and open to scrutiny if needed, but also for yourselves so that you are safeguarded from allegations if you are managing her money without having the proper legal authority to do so. You have been scrupulous in showing what you have been doing; sadly many people are not and have family and friends taking advantage of their vulnerability. That's why we have the system that we do. 

pothole65

Thank you for you informative and swift reply, I have looked at the fees for the deputy ship and while they make it clear it is a £100 payment for each deputy, it is not clear if the £350 is also paid by each deputy and if it is, would it be taken from my mother in laws estate or our finances.

TBagpuss

I think all of the costs would come from her finances, as the deputyship is for her benefit.

elsien

It comes from the person's money not yours.
If you have any queries you can contact the OPG directly. Even with covid they do seem to reply fairly promptly. 

Email - customerservices@publicguardian.gov.uk

Telephone - 0300 456 0300

Alternatively you could check with the solicitor who made the application - you've paid them enough, after all. 

lisyloo

There is an annual fee to the OPG.
it was not necessary to use a solicitor. I did it myself. It was a lot of paperwork but none of it was difficult.

Keep_pedalling

Unfortunately going through the CoP is a longwinded and expensive business, and is why all of us should make sure we have LPAs in place way before they are likely to be needed. 

PeterE17

pothole65 said:

I have looked at the fees for the deputy ship and while they make it clear it is a £100 payment for each deputy, it is not clear if the £350 is also paid by each deputy 

I don't know where you got the fee of £350 from.
If my experience from 5 years ago is still valid, you will pay for ONE appointment (a phone interview and they send out a pamphlet called "How to be a deputy") and ONE supervision fee of £320 per annum. This was for three deputies.
Carry on with the spreadsheet and receipts, you'll need this information for the annual report the COP requires.  
Don't forget, if your MIL should die, your deputyship ends immediately and you will no longer have access to her accounts.  

lisyloo

You will also need to pay for a bond (insurance).
mine was £90 per annum for £120k.
You cannot get COP without this bond, so it’s non negotiable.