Legal Deputyship – Apply for a Court of Protection Order

Deputies: make decisions for someone who lacks capacity

You can apply to become someone’s Deputy if a person lacks mental capacity and does not already have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place. This means they cannot make a decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made. Although, they may still be able to make decisions for themselves at certain times.

Some of the reasons people may lack mental capacity is because, for example:

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

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

There are two types of Deputy:

1. Property and financial affairs Deputy - You’ll do things like pay the person’s bills or organise their pension.
2. Personal welfare Deputy - You’ll make decisions about medical treatment and how someone is looked after.

You can apply to be just one type of Deputy or both. If you’re appointed, you’ll get a court order confirming what authorised actions you can and cannot do for the person.

Alternatively, If you need to make a single important decision, we can apply to the Court of Protection for a one-off order.