Court of Protection Pilot Scheme January 2023
The Court of Protection have announced that from January 2023 a new upfront notification process will become the new standard for all Property and Affairs deputyship applications.
This process requires the applicant to notify three people, for example:- relatives, a social worker and/or a doctor, who know the person lacking capacity (“P”). The applicant is required to gather the responses within 14 days of notification where possible, before submitting their application to the Court of Protection.
These changes are advantageous due to increased initial engagement with P and their contacts, which ultimately reduce delays caused by objections when an application has been submitted. This also means that the current CoP20a and CoP20b will no longer need to be completed, which is much more eco-friendly and efficient due to not interfering with the flow of the application submitted.
The current application processing time ranges between six to nine months. Whereas, the new processing structure provides better accuracy of applications. If the upfront notifications to the contacts are not returned within 14 days, then the applicant can proceed with filing an application – it is said that potentially an order could then be granted within 6 weeks. It must be noted here that this is subject to any other complexities that may arise, in particular appreciating that this is a new system by the Court of Protection which has yet to be put into practice by many firms. Therefore, watch this space.
The new Property and Affairs Deputyship application forms will be available for filing via the online case management pilot scheme, which will be available for solicitors/ professional users to use from 2 January 2023.
There are many benefits to the new pilot scheme, in particular the turnaround time for the processing of applications. More to follow in the New Year!
If you would like to seek professional and legal advice on Mental Capacity & Deputyships, please contact our Mental Capacity & Deputyship solicitors to discuss further your personal circumstances, call us today on 0808 271 9413 or request a call back at your convenience.