Court of Protection

If you have not made arrangements for someone else to manage your finances and you lose the capacity to make your own decisions, then someone must apply for a court order via the Court of Protection to make decisions for you.

They make decisions on financial or welfare matters for people who can’t make decisions when they need to be made (they ‘lack mental capacity’).

They are responsible for:

• deciding whether someone has the mental capacity to make a particular decision for themselves
• appointing deputies to make ongoing decisions for people who lack mental capacity
• giving people permission to make one-off decisions on behalf of someone else who lacks mental capacity
• handling urgent or emergency applications where a decision must be made on behalf of someone else without delay
• making decisions about a lasting power of attorney or enduring power of attorney and considering any objections to their registration
• considering applications to make statutory wills or gifts
• making decisions about when someone can be deprived of their liberty under the Mental Capacity Act