In law, adopted children are regarded as having been born to their adoptive parents. The Family Division of the High Court recently considered whether that fact precluded a parental order being granted under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008...
The Court of Protection is a Court which looks after the affairs of people who cannot look after their own affairs.
Sometimes it happens that a person has an accident or becomes unable to manage their affairs through illness or confusion in old age, but they have not made a Lasting Power of Attorney to enable someone close to them to look after their affairs. In that case a Deputyship application has to be made to the Court of Protection which has the power to appoint a Deputy who will have the legal authority to deal with that person’s affairs.
Normally the appointment is for a Property and Affairs Deputy, but it is possible in limited circumstances for the Court to appoint a Personal Welfare Deputy who can make personal decisions about such matters as medical treatment.
A Property and Affairs Deputy will have to look after the affairs of the person who cannot look after their own affairs – consulting them on any decisions to be made and acting always in their best interests under the principles set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Court applies different levels of supervision to the Deputy depending on all the circumstances, but the Deputy will have to answer to the Court for how they deal with finances of the one who cannot act for themselves.
We are experienced in dealing with this type of matter, and there are also various situations in which an application has to be made to the Court of Protection where a person is not fully capable of making decisions for themselves.
Sometimes there is one particular decision that needs to be made for a person who is mentally incapable, and the Court can be asked just to make that decision but not to appoint somebody generally to look after that person’s affairs.
In certain circumstances the Court can also make what is known as a Statutory Will for a person who does not have a Will and is not capable of making their own Will.
Applications to the Court of Protection are complicated and lengthy, and we can make the process as easy and painless as possible for you.