Court of Protection

There are times when a person has not put a Lasting or Enduring Power of Attorney in place and is not able to make one as they have lost mental capacity. In these circumstances their next of kin would not be able to deal with their property and financial affairs until an Order has been made by the Court of Protection. We can help with these applications.

We also have experience in applying to the Court of Protection to enable someone to make decisions concerning health and welfare matters. This can include matters such as speaking to medical professionals on your behalf, but it also covers big decisions relating to life-sustaining treatment. These applications are much less common, and the Court is generally more hesitant to get involved, but please contact us if you are in this situation and require advice with this type of Order.

Sometimes a person has lost mental capacity and a decision needs to be made regarding their Will. Where someone has lost the necessary capacity to provide instructions on the preparation of their Will then the Court of Protection will need to become involved. A Will approved by the Court of Protection is known as a ‘Statutory Will’ and there are a few situations in which a Statutory Will may be considered necessary:

• The person has never made a will before (intestate)
• Their estate has reduced in value (perhaps due to payments for long-term care)
• Their estate has increased in value, for example, as a result of compensation awarded or an inheritance
• Tax planning purposes (perhaps tax law has significantly changed since their Will was prepared meaning that their current Will is no longer tax-efficient)
• A beneficiary or beneficiaries under an existing Will has passed away.

In these situations, a Statutory Will may need to be prepared and we have experience in such Court applications.

Our fees are as follows:

Applications to the Court of Protection are capped at £950.00 plus VAT plus disbursements and court fees.

The hourly rates for the private client department are as follows:

• Partner £350.00 per hour.
• Associate Solicitor £290.00 per hour.
• Consultant £300.00 per hour.

All of the hourly rates are plus VAT.