Deputyship order applications at the Court of Protection

Fundamental changes championed by the Court of Protection came into force on the 1^st of January 2023 and are soon to be enforced permanently from February 2023. The registration process to become someone’s deputy, that is to act on their behalf if they lack mental capacity, has been simplified and can now be made online.

At present, you can apply to become someone’s deputy if they ‘lack mental capacity’. This means they cannot make a decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made. They may still be able to make decisions for themselves at certain times.

People may lack mental capacity because of various reasons but it may include, for example:

That they’ve had a serious brain injury or illness
That they have dementia
That they have severe learning disabilities

As a deputy, you’ll be authorised by the Court of Protection to make decisions on their behalf.

Before the recent change came into force, the application process was both long and detailed. All submissions had to be made by post. The Court of Protection has recently taken a decision to amend the registration process and submissions can now be made online. In addition, the procedure that must now be followed in registering for a Deputyship application has changed in that notification must take place before a request can be made as opposed to notification taking place during the process.

The Court of Protection state that the benefits of the new system and upfront notification process are:

Digital submission processes support a higher accuracy of complete applications;
Users will have a better idea of what is happening on their application;
It will allow non contested Property and financial order applications to progress swiftly through Court;
Faster turnaround times with agreed orders being able to made in first touch of file.

The hope will be that the applications will be progressed at a far quicker timescale than the several months that practitioners had become accustomed to.

Do you have a question regarding deputyship orders? Contact us on 020 8290 0333 or fill in our contact form here.

Written by: Peter Taylor ( Partner)