A deputyship order is a Court of Protection appointment that gives you legal authority to make decisions for someone in England or Wales who has lost the mental capacity to make those decisions themselves. You apply for one when no Lasting Power of Attorney was put in place before capacity was lost, which means nobody automatically has the right to deal with the person’s bank, benefits, care, or property. The court decides who is appointed, what they can do, and how closely they are supervised.
When You Need a Deputyship Instead of an LPA
The distinction matters because the two routes do similar work at very different cost and difficulty. A Lasting Power of Attorney is arranged by the person themselves while they still have capacity: they choose their attorney, register the document with the Office of the Public Guardian, and it is ready to use the moment it is needed. There is no court application, no ongoing supervision fee, and no annual report.
A deputyship order only becomes relevant once capacity has already been lost without an LPA in place. At that point a family member, friend, or professional has to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed. The application fee alone is £421, and appointment brings years of supervision, reporting, and in most cases an annual security bond premium paid from the person’s funds.
If you are reading this because a relative has already lost capacity, deputyship is likely your only route. If you are planning ahead for yourself, an LPA set up now will almost certainly spare your family the deputyship process entirely.
The Two Types of Deputyship
Property and Financial Affairs
This is the common type. A property and financial affairs deputy manages the person’s money, pays bills, deals with their bank, collects pensions and benefits, and handles decisions about property such as selling or maintaining a home. Most applications are for this type because financial matters involve routine, ongoing decisions that cannot sensibly wait for a separate court order each time.
Personal Welfare
A personal welfare deputy makes decisions about care, medical treatment, where the person lives, and who they have contact with. These orders are granted far less often. The Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice says they should only be made in the most difficult cases, and the court generally prefers to make a one-off decision itself on a specific welfare question rather than appoint a standing deputy. In most situations welfare decisions are handled collaboratively by the people involved in the person’s care, guided by the best interests principle.
You can apply for one type or both. Applying for both means paying the application fee twice.
Who the Court Will Appoint
A deputy can be a family member, a friend, or a professional such as a solicitor or accountant. The Court of Protection weighs the applicant’s relationship with the person, their ability to manage the affairs in question, and any conflicts of interest. Family members are often preferred in straightforward cases where relationships are not contentious.
Professionals tend to be appointed where the estate is large, where family members disagree about who should take the role, where no suitable family member or friend is willing, or where the local authority is already involved. The court can also appoint joint deputies, who must act together, or joint and several deputies, who can act either together or independently.
How to Apply
The application has three stages: notifying the people involved, filing the forms, and waiting for the court’s decision.
Notifying People First
Before filing, you must notify the person you are applying to act for. You or a representative visit them, explain who is applying and what having a deputy would mean, and give them a notification form so they can respond or object if they are able to. You must also notify at least three other people connected to them, such as family members, a social worker, or their doctor, using a separate notice. Everyone has 14 days to respond. If you cannot identify three people to notify, you submit a witness statement explaining why.
Filing the Forms
The core forms are the COP1 application (filed in duplicate), a COP1A or COP1B giving supporting information for financial or welfare matters, a COP3 capacity assessment completed by a medical professional, a COP4 declaration from you as proposed deputy, and a COP5 acknowledgment for anyone who wants to take part in the proceedings. All of this must be submitted within three months of notifying the people connected to the application. Miss that window and the notifications have to be done again.
The Court’s Decision
Most straightforward applications are decided on paper. If the court decides a hearing is needed, there is an additional £259 hearing fee. There is no guaranteed timeline; uncontested applications are generally resolved faster than contested ones. The order you receive will set out exactly what you can and cannot do as deputy.
What It Costs
Deputyship involves several separate fees, and the running total catches many families off guard. All of them are paid from the person’s estate rather than the deputy’s own money.
- Application fee: £421, paid on submission. Doubled if you apply for both types.
- Hearing fee: £259, only if the court decides a hearing is needed.
- Assessment fee: £100 for new deputies, paid after appointment.
- Annual supervision fee: £320 for general supervision, or £35 for property and affairs deputies managing less than £21,000 who qualify for minimal supervision. Due on 31 March for the preceding year.
- Security bond: Property and affairs deputies usually have to put a surety bond in place before appointment. The court sets the level based on the estate size and how much the deputy controls, and the annual premium comes from the person’s funds.
Fee exemptions or reductions are available if the person receives certain means-tested benefits or has an annual income below £12,000. The application fee is refunded if the person dies within five days of the court receiving the application.
The Rules You Have to Follow
Once appointed, every decision you make is bound by the five principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The court can remove a deputy who ignores them.
- Assume capacity until an assessment proves otherwise. Age or diagnosis alone is not enough.
- Help the person decide for themselves before stepping in: simpler explanations, better timing, visual aids where useful.
- Respect unwise decisions. A choice you disagree with is not evidence of lost capacity.
- Act in the person’s best interests, not your own, taking account of their past and present wishes, feelings, beliefs, and values, and consulting carers and family where appropriate.
- Choose the least restrictive option that still achieves the goal.
The Act is also clear that any powers given to a deputy should be as limited in scope and duration as the circumstances reasonably allow.
Day-to-Day Responsibilities
Keep the person’s money and property completely separate from your own. Every penny spent on their behalf needs to be recorded and justifiable, with bank statements, receipts, and invoices retained so you can explain any transaction if asked. Significant financial decisions such as selling property, making gifts, or changing investments require particular care, and some may need specific court approval before you act. Your court order will spell out any restrictions. When in doubt, applying to the court for a specific direction is safer than overstepping.
In the rare cases where a personal welfare deputy is appointed, decisions about where the person lives, what care they receive, and their daily routine must reflect what they would have wanted, drawing on their known preferences and values rather than what is most convenient for the deputy.
Supervision and Reporting
The Office of the Public Guardian supervises every deputy. You submit an annual deputy report covering the decisions you have made, significant changes, and, if you are a property and affairs deputy, a full financial account including assets, debts, income, spending, and any major purchases. The OPG uses these reports to confirm the person’s money is being managed properly and their care needs are being met.
The OPG may also arrange for a Court of Protection visitor to meet you in person to check that you understand your duties and are carrying them out properly. If a complaint is raised about your conduct, the OPG can investigate. Deputies who fall short of the standards can be removed by the court on the OPG’s application.
Urgent and Emergency Situations
If you have already submitted your deputyship application but have not yet been appointed, and a specific decision cannot wait, you can apply for an interim order. An example is overdue nursing home fees where the care provider is threatening discharge: you file an application notice explaining the urgency with supporting evidence such as invoices or account statements, and ask for temporary authority to access the person’s account.
Genuine emergencies, where life or welfare is at immediate risk, are handled through a faster route still. The Court of Protection has an out-of-hours emergency phone line for situations that arise when the court is closed. Emergency applications are limited to serious matters with unavoidable time pressure, such as authorising urgent medical treatment the person cannot consent to.
How a Deputyship Ends
Most deputyships end with the death of the person. The deputy’s authority ceases immediately and the estate passes to the executors or administrators under normal probate rules.
The court can also revoke an appointment if the deputy has acted outside their authority or failed to act in the person’s best interests, and a later order can vary the original deputyship by narrowing the powers or appointing a replacement. If the person regains capacity, the basis for the deputyship falls away and the order can be discharged. That outcome is uncommon because most cases involve progressive conditions, but it can happen after a brain injury where recovery exceeds expectations. Where a deputyship ends partway through a supervision year, the annual fee is prorated.