When a person lacks capacity to make decisions for themselves relating to either their health or their finances, an application can be made to the Court of Protection to appoint a ‘Deputy’ to do this for them.
This raises the important question: when someone is appointed to make such important decisions about another person’s life, who ensures these decisions are in the person’s best interests?
Security bond
When a deputy is appointed for a protected person (P), before the Court will send them their Order proving their authority, they are required to obtain a security bond.
This is effectively an insurance policy against the deputy in case something happened to the funds they hold. The annual premium for this is paid from P’s funds.
The security amount is calculated by the court and considers the amount of money P holds and the access to this the Deputy has.
The payment for the bond will be .05% of the bond value and is paid annually. So, if the bond covers £100,000, the annual payment will be £50. Some agreements a deputy can enter into will allow the security to remain in place without any further payments after 6 years.
Deputy declarations
When the application is made for a person to be appointed as Deputy, they have to commit to various declarations which bind them to behave according to certain rules.
This covers many things from information about the Deputy such as their occupation, criminal history, and their personal financial circumstances. It will also require them to provide personal undertakings such as acting in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, acting with honesty and integrity, and taking into account the decisions made by P when they still had capacity.
Annual OPG report (accounts and decisions)
Each year the Deputy will be required to produce a report to the OPG detailing each decision they have made for P throughout the year. They will need to explain whether P was involved in the decision and what their opinion was, or if they were not involved, why not.
If the deputy is appointed for property and finances they will need to provide a detailed rundown of the bank accounts held for P. This will cover the amount they hold in the accounts, the money in, and the money out.
The OPG will review this annual report and may ask the deputy for more information, this can include asking them to provide bank statements for the accounts held by P, or to go into more detail on the decision making process used for choices made throughout the year.
It is fair to say that the role of the deputy is heavily regulated, as they hold a lot of control over P’s affairs whether it be health and welfare or financial. It is not something to be taken lightly but with proper record keeping and following the rules set out by the Court there is no reason a layperson cannot be a deputy.
At Bromleys we act as Professional Deputy for many clients as well as helping people with applications to appoint them as Deputy for their friends and family members.
If you believe you should be appointed as Deputy for a friend or loved one, or believe that it would be appropriate for a Professional Deputy to be appointed for someone you know, please get in touch by calling 0161 330 6821 or emailing bromleys@bromleys.co.uk and one of our team would be more than willing to discuss this with you.