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Exclusive: the Court of Protection can be painful

court of protection

I thought the COP was supposed to help you

Actually, its role is to protect the person who has suffered the loss of mental capacity. This means that family members are not automatically seen as the knights in shining armour. You have to be able to demonstrate it to the court and pay for the privilege, year after year.

You also have to prepare a written deputy report when requested which is usually an annual event. There is an obligation for the deputy (hopefully you) to take out a bond which can be thought of as a type of insurance. This is based on the size of the estate and will normally attract an annual premium.

The obligations and level of scrutiny on the deputy are quite onerous as the COP must have records for all your dealings. This includes not only what the deputy has spent but the reasons why the choices were made.

You can probably see where the pain comes from when compared to an LPA

Did you know …

  • It’s the COP that actually signs off an LPA for a one off fee
  • Without an LPA, it’s the COP that determines who will control someone’s estate if they become mentally incapacitated
  • The COP could appoint a deputy who is from outside of the family
  • The costs to become a deputy in control of your loved one’s affairs without an LPA could run in to the thousands.
  • There’s an annual supervision fee
  • It could take months to have a deputy assigned

The one off LPA fee is a relative bargain when compared to this

So avoid the heartache and trauma by planning ahead

This might be all the incentive you need to start your LPA application today

Court of Protection Fees

  • Application fee is £408
  • Court or legal fee (set by the Court)
  • Appeal fee is £257
  • Hearing fee is £494
  • Copy of document fee is £5
  • Annual supervision fee £320 (or £35 for minimal supervision)

see the government website for full details

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Act now, more than 50,000 LPAs rejected last year

The Office of the Public Guardian rejected over 50,000 applications in the period 2023 to 2024. That was over 30,000 Property and Financial affairs and over 20,000 Health and Welfare LPAs. This was in just one year owing to mistakes made on the application forms!.

If an LPA is rejected then you will need to apply again and potentially pay the repeat application fee of £41. This can lead to frustration, sadness and anxiety.

Read the Guides – Do your Homework

We cannot stress strongly enough to do your homework. The time you take to read the guides ahead of making your application will pay dividends.

We know not everyone likes to read the small print and just wants to jump right in. However, this has a greater chance to fail. With something as important as your LPA you should strive to get it right first time. If slow and steady is not your style then why not ask us to help.

Check and Double Check

It is essential that you check all details thoroughly for mistakes and that you follow the rules exactly. That is what we would do for you.

For example, signatures must be dated in the correct order and witnessed by eligible people. You should take the time to do this or better still let us check them for you. You could save time and money in the long run.

If you make spelling mistakes this can store up problems for the future. Any errors contained in the details such as the spelling of a name would not stop the LPA being approved. However, this could rendered it unusable if identity details provided do not match exactly what is written in the registered LPA.

Your application can take up to 20 weeks but mistakes can lead to longer timescales and may increase your costs.

See tips on the Gov.uk website to avoid errors

Don’t delay, if you haven’t already checked out our guide then why not start now with the LPA Agency