Court of Protection Work

Court of Protection Work at Fixed Fees with no Hidden Costs

The Court of Protection is the judicial body responsible for assisting people with dementia, or in the aftermath of accidents or clinical negligence, so that they cannot be exploited or denied what is rightfully theirs. The Court of Protection also regulates those people approved to look after their financial affairs.

Premier Solicitors advises and assists with a range of circumstances which affect those under the Court of Protection’s jurisdiction.

Deputyship applications

We have a strong reputation in dealing with the full range of Court of Protection services including deputyship services, gifts, lasting powers of attorney.

We have in-house expertise to combine legal expertise with financial management, planning, investment, taxation, reports and accounts to the Court, as we have a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser, Financial Adviser and Trust & Estate Practitioner as part of our Specialist Team.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which allows the person of your choice the power to manage your financial affairs and/or medical and welfare decisions if you were unable to now or in the future.  A Donor is the person making the Power of Attorney.  An Attorney is the person the Donor appoints to act.

Although we do not like to think about tragic events coming into our lives, there is a chance that you could suffer a tragic accident at any stage in your life.  We recommend to all clients, not just the elderly, that they think about having a Lasting Power of Attorney drawn up at the same time as they are dealing with their Will (and putting all of their financial affairs into order), and not just think that this is something that they can put off until later in life. We usually offer a discount where LPAs are drawn up at the same time as dealing with drafting your Will.

Some of our clients think that the price of our LPA’s are expensive compared to the price of our Wills, however, as an LPA is probably the second most important legal document you could draw up after your Will we would recommend that this is something you think carefully about.  We should be highly cost competitive, and will aim to beat the price offered by any firm of Solicitors by £50 + VAT! 

In summary an LPA allows somebody to look after your money (if you have a property and financial affairs LPA drawn up), should you become incapable of doing so yourself, you can also build in any safeguards you require.  This is simply an “insurance” type of document that will sit on the shelf and hopefully never be required, but should it ever be needed it will save your loved ones a significant amount of time and expense by having one ready to use, as the alternative is to have a Court of Protection appointed Deputy.  If a person becomes mentally incapable of running his/her own affairs then The Office of the Public Guardian takes over. This can be an intrusive, lengthy, bureaucratic and costly procedure, which can be easily avoided. 

There are two types of lasting power of attorney, one for property and financial affairs and one for personal welfare.  Neither of these can be used until it has been officially registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.

Registration of Enduring Powers of Attorney

It is important to remember that the validity of any Enduring Power of Attorney made before 1st October 2007 is not affected in any way, and the Office of the Public Guardian will continue to register enduring powers of attorney as and when this is necessary. In contrast to the lasting powers of attorney, an enduring power of attorney needs only to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian when the attorney suspects that the donor has lost or is losing mental capacity to manage his/her affairs.  If you have an EPA that needs to be registered, please contact us to take care of the bureaucratic paperwork for you at this difficult time, and particularly when you need a specialist to deal with matters quickly for you so you can gain access to bank accounts etc. to pay for care home fees.

We provide a low cost fixed fee with no hidden costs. The Court charges a fee which is clearly stated from the outset.

Errors in this area of work are extremely costly and can add considerable delay to the proceedings, for example documents not submitted correctly or at the specified time will cause delay.

Let us take the weight off your shoulders and help you reach the right solution

Call us today on 01234 35 80 80 to speak to a member of our qualified team.

Arrange to meet one of our Personal Lawyers to discuss court of protection work at one of our offices in:

• Bedford Office - 01234 358080
• Luton Office - 01582 879090
• Milton Keynes Office - 01908 711150
• Hitchin Office - 01462 659171
• Stevenage Office - 01438 330033

Get Premier Solicitors' full contact details.