A parent has a stroke, or a dementia diagnosis reaches the point where they can no longer manage their affairs. There is no Lasting Power of Attorney. The bank will not discuss the account, even with the spouse whose name is not on it. The house cannot be sold to fund care. Benefits and pensions cannot be dealt with.
Being next of kin gives you no legal authority over another adult’s finances. Neither does being named in their will — that only operates after death.
The only route left
Where no LPA exists and capacity has gone, the sole option is to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed a deputy. There are two kinds, mirroring the two types of LPA: property and financial affairs, and personal welfare. Financial deputyships are routinely granted; welfare deputyships are granted sparingly, on the basis that welfare decisions are usually better made as they arise.
What is involved
The application requires detailed information about the person, their assets and their family, together with an assessment of capacity completed by a suitable professional — usually a GP, consultant or specialist social worker. Family members and others must be formally notified and given the opportunity to object. If there is a dispute, the court may direct a hearing.
What it costs
- Application fee: £432 (per application)
- Hearing fee: £266, if the court decides one is needed
- New deputy assessment fee: £100
- Annual supervision: £320 for general supervision, or £35 where minimal supervision applies to smaller estates
- A security bond, which a property and financial affairs deputy must usually put in place, priced according to the value of the assets under their control
Legal fees for preparing the application are additional. Compare that with £92 to register an LPA.
The ongoing obligation
A deputyship is not a one-off. You must keep the person’s money entirely separate from your own, keep records of every transaction, and file an annual report to the Office of the Public Guardian. Larger decisions — selling the family home, making a gift, statutory will applications — require a separate application to the court.
Applications commonly take several months from start to finish. Throughout that period the care home fees still fall due and the mortgage still has to be paid, and there is no lawful way to access the funds.
The point of all this
Deputyship works, and where it is the only option we will guide you through it. But it exists to solve a problem that an LPA prevents: months of delay, several times the cost, ongoing supervision, and decisions about your relative made by people they did not choose.
If someone in your family still has capacity and no LPA, that is the conversation to have this month.
Talk to us
For help with a deputyship application, or to put LPAs in place while there is still time, call 0151 422 0982.