Deputyship Orders

Considering Applying for a Deputyship?

When an individual no longer has mental capacity but they don’t have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) or Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) in place a Deputyship Order is likely to be necessary to manage their affairs for them.

If you are considering submitting an application to the Court of Protection to be appointed as someone’s Deputy, Greendrift Wills & Estates can help. Please note that our initial, face-to-face, meeting with you is always a frank discussion about the significant costs, administrative burden, lengthy delays, and personal commitment of being appointed a Deputy. This is so that, if you do decide to embark on the lengthy Deputyship application process, you do so with your eyes fully open to the challenges that lie ahead. Of course, that said, we will always endeavour to make this process as smooth, straightforward and painless for you as we can.

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What is a Deputy?

A deputy is the person (or persons) appointed by the Court of Protection to deal with the affairs of an individual who has lost mental capacity and can no longer manage their own affairs.

What is the Court of Protection (COP)?

If someone has lost mental capacity because of an accident or illness and they are no longer able to give instructions for a Lasting Power of Attorney the only option may be to make an application to the Court of Protection for the appointment of a Deputy.

Why might I need a Deputyship Order?

Who can become a Property & Affairs Deputy?

It is normally a close family member who makes the application to the Court of Protection for their appointment as Deputy. If there are no close relatives willing to act, then a friend, lawyer, social worker or other professional may apply to deal with the individual’s financial affairs.

Please bear in mind that the Court’s own guidance states that “the Court ought to start from the position that, where family members offer themselves as Deputies then, in the absence of family disputes or other matters that raise queries as to their willingness or capacity to carry out these functions, the Court ought to approach such an application with considerable openness and sympathy.”

Whoever applies for a Deputyship must be someone who is financially sound, competent, trustworthy, can spare the time and is motivated to take over responsibility for managing the individual’s financial affairs in their best interests.

What Types of Deputyship Order can be Issued?

There are two types of Deputyship Order, one for Property and Affairs, and one for Personal Welfare.

Greendrift Wills & Estates can prepare and submit an application to the Court of Protection for a Property & Affairs Deputyship Order on your behalf. However we do not currently support applications for Personal Welfare Deputyship Orders which are only rarely granted by the Court in any case.

The Code of Practice to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (which governs when Personal Welfare Deputyship Orders should be allowed) states that the Orders should only be granted in the most difficult of cases. The thinking behind this is that the Court should be reluctant to give one single individual the authority to make such important and intimate personal welfare decisions, unless the Court considers this absolutely necessary. Rather, everybody involved in the care of the individual should work together to make decisions in that person’s best interests.

What can a Property & Affairs Deputy do?

The Order made by the Court will set out what the Deputy can do and also what they are prohibited from doing. A Deputy for financial affairs can usually do many of the
day-to-day financial things that you would expect, such as; paying care home bills, purchasing personal items, managing bank accounts and making investments.

However, further powers would have to be sought from the Court before the Deputy could undertake more complex tasks such as property/land transactions, litigation, or making a statutory Will.

How long will a Deputyship application take?

Deputyship applications are currently taking at least 6 months from when the completed application forms are submitted to the Court for consideration.

Additionally, it usually takes about six weeks to gather all the necessary information needed to complete the application forms, to notify interested parties and to have a mental capacity assessment carried out.

What are the key stages in the application process?

1. Persons to be Notified

Before applying for the Order, the applicant must identify at least three persons who are likely to have an interest in being notified that a Deputyship Order application is underway, such as members of the individual’s close family. The applicant is also required to visit and personally notify the person for whom the Deputyship Order is being sought. If any of the people who have been notified object to the Deputyship application, the proceedings become contested and are likely to be delayed by many months.

2. Mental Capacity Assessment

It is essential that an examination of the individual and an assessment of their mental capacity is carried out by a suitably qualified professional. A statement of the Individual’s mental capacity must be obtained and the relevant ‘COP3’ form completed.

3. Completion of Deputyship Application Forms

Details are required both about the Individual (including a breakdown of their income, normal expenditure and assets) and also about the applicant (including an in-depth look at their own personal and financial circumstances). In addition, the applicant will be required to explain why the appointment of a Deputy is necessary, why they are best placed to be that Deputy, and how the Deputyship Order will benefit the Individual.

4. Deputy Declaration

Each proposed Deputy must complete and sign a Statement of Truth to help the COP assess whether or not they are a suitable person to be appointed.

5. Court Proceedings

The COP enters into court proceedings to appoint the deputy. This includes serving documents, processing responses to the appointment of the Deputy and satisfying themselves that the Deputy should be appointed. Occasionally the Court may request an additional hearing, or the applicant may wish to appeal against a decision of the Court, both would incur additional costs.

7. Annual Report

About 6 to 8 weeks before each anniversary of the Deputy’s appointment the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) will contact them to ask for an annual report. This report should detail all the decisions made through the year and record all income, expenditure and capital.

The Likely Costs Involved

The costs quickly stack up, most are one-off but some are ongoing. However, generally, reasonable costs may be reclaimed from the individual’s funds once the Deputyship Order has been granted.

Likely Costs (as at January 2025):

Mental Capacity Assessment Fee – estimate £300 to £450
Sometimes the individual’s own GP or Social Worker will agree to examine them and carry this out (for a lower fee) and to complete the required ‘COP3’ “Assessment of Capacity” form. However, most often a third party medical, healthcare or social work professional will have to be instructed to do so.
Greendrift Wills & Estates can advise on suitable national firms who offer this service and also, since we have links to a local medical doctor based at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, we can often arrange for the required assessment to be done more speedily and cost effectively ourselves.
Greendrift Wills & Estates Fee – £750
(payable in two tranches, £400 when the application is submitted, and the balance of £350 when the Deputyship Order is granted)

Greendrift Wills & Estates will support you every step of the way in your Deputyship application journey. We always offer to come and meet you in your own home and pride ourselves on our responsiveness to phone calls, emails, WhatsApp messages etc.We will advise on obtaining the required mental capacity assessment, and will remain actively supporting your case until your Deputyship Order is approved and responsibility for monitoring it has passed over to the Office of the Public Guardian.Court applications usually take at least six months but we promise to keep you updated throughout, and to respond effectively to any queries you have along the way; in short, we won’t rest until your Deputyship Order is in place and your loved one’s affairs are safely in your hands.
Court of Protection Application Fee – £408
This fee is payable to the Court when your application is submitted and must be settled before your application will be considered by the Court. If a Court Hearing or an Appeal is required there will be additional fees payable.
Security Bond – annual fee to be confirmed by the Court
This is for Property and Affairs Deputyships and is a type of insurance policy or financial guarantee that protects the finances of the person for whom the Deputy is acting in the unlikely event that they were to misuse their funds. The fee is paid to a security bond provider and the Court will send details of their preferred provider, alternatively you can seek your own arrangements. The amount the Deputy is required to pay each year depends on the value of the individual’s estate and on how much of their estate the Deputy controls.You should expect to pay a small percentage of the value of the Bond set by the Court each year. For example, if the Bond value set by the Court is £100,000 you may be asked to pay about £110 a year.
Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) fees
One-off assessment fee when you are appointed – £100 After an Order has been granted, you will be asked to pay an initial assessment fee which is a one-off payment to cover the cost of assessing the level of ongoing supervision you will need. You must pay this when the OPG receives the Court of Protection Deputyship Order and you commence your Deputyship duties

Annual supervision fee – between £35 and £320

This fee varies depending on the level of supervision which the OPG state is required. It is an annual fee, payable at the end of March each year, to cover the cost of supervising Deputies. Please note that Deputies are also required to keep accounts, and to keep the individual’s money and property separate from their own.