If you should lose mental capacity and are unable to deal with your own affairs, either because of an accident or an illness, your family may have to involve the Court of Protection in order to help manage your affairs and make decisions on your behalf.
Professional Deputyship
We have a specialised team of Directors at Rogers & Norton who currently act as Professional Deputies for some of their clients who have lost capacity and either have no close relatives or act for those where the clients need professional assistance. Rogers & Norton’s deputyship team have become involved with a variety of clients who have been disabled from a young age or who have lost capacity due to old age and who now need assistance with their finances.
Court Appointed Deputies
The Deputy or Deputies can be relatives or close friends and must be aged over 18. The Deputy may also be a professional such as a solicitor or a representative of a local authority.
Once appointed a Deputy can assist with paying bills, investing money, buying and selling property and run day to day finances.
Whilst it is beneficial for everyone to have made a Lasting Power of Attorney to appoint those they trust as Attorneys to deal with their finances and welfare decisions, as this will be a quicker and more efficient route for the family, this is not always possible. It may be that a person never has capacity to make a Lasting Power of Attorney or when the time comes for the document to be required that person has already lost capacity.
A Deputyship Order will allow those appointed by the Court to assist the person that is unable to manage their own affairs in all aspects of their finances.
We are able to assist in preparing and making a Deputyship Application to the Court of Protection to appoint a family member or loved one as the Deputy.
Statutory Wills
Some very important decisions that have to be made for someone who lacks capacity, such as making or changing a Will, cannot be made by the deputy and must be dealt with by the Court of Protection.
A Will made under the Mental Capacity Act is referred to as a Statutory Will.
An application can be made to the Court of Protection to gain approval for either a new Will or to change an existing one. If the Court believes the changes to be in the best interests of the person who lacks mental capacity, they will approve it.
Rogers & Norton Ltd have a talented and experienced team of solicitors, who specialise in helping and supporting vulnerable clients, together with their families and carers.
We deal with a wide range of cases from complex personal injury awards for young adults and children, to elderly clients with dementia in care.
The team have detailed knowledge of the Statutory Will process and Court of Protection matters.
If you want to discuss any issues in relation to Statutory Wills, or find out more about how it impacts on your personal circumstances you can contact our dedicated team.