Client Stories - Court of Protection

Our experienced Court of Protection solicitors have helped many clients plan for the future, whether by putting in place Lasting Powers of Attorney or by applying to the court. Here are some recent case studies from our clients.

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Diagnosed with Dementia

Mrs G had been diagnosed with dementia but retained sufficient capacity to execute a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). She appointed her long-term partner and cohabite, H, to manage her property and affairs in the event that she lost capacity.

Mrs G’s son was unhappy with the situation and applied to the Court of Protection. He alleged that Mrs G lacked the capacity to make the LPA and that pressure was being placed on her by H, who was financially exploiting her.

He also alleged that H was preventing him from seeing his mother. Mrs G’s son wanted the court to order that he be allowed contact with his mother and that he be appointed deputy to administer her property and affairs.

H approached us for advice and representation in the Court of Protection. The court found the LPA to be valid and refused the son’s application for deputyship. Contact between the mum and son, which was never refused, was agreed.

Advice about elderly uncle

Mr R needed advice about his elderly uncle J, who had gone into a care home following a period of poor health. Mr R was concerned that he didn’t have the authority to pay J’s bills and couldn’t access his money to pay the care home fees.

J had a house that was unoccupied and needed to be sold in order to pay for his care, however, he hadn’t executed a Lasting Power of Attorney and Mr R had no power to sell the property and deal with the utility companies.

We quickly applied to the Court of Protection for Mr R to be J’s property and affairs deputy. This gave him the power to deal with J’s property and bills, as necessary.

Jointly appointed under Lasting Power of Attorney

Mrs P and her sister, D, were jointly appointed under their mother’s Lasting Power of Attorney to manage her property and affairs. However Mrs P became aware that D had taken a significant amount of her mother’s money for her own use.

We helped Mrs P by applying to the Court of Protection for the Power of Attorney to be cancelled. This meant that Mrs P could act as her mother’s sole deputy and there could be no further misuse of funds by her sister.

Deprivation of Liberty

Mrs F came to us for advice about her elderly father who had dementia but was able to remain in his own home with support from his family and other carers.

Her father liked to travel on his own and regularly used the bus to get to the shops; however he became disorientated on one occasion and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. When his family arrived at the hospital they were told that their father couldn’t be discharged and that the hospital had used their powers under the Mental Capacity Act to detain him.

We contacted the hospital and challenged the Deprivation of Liberty, but were instructed to take the matter to the Court of Protection. Fortunately the court application wasn’t necessary and our letter was sufficient to secure her father’s release and achieve the family’s aim.