A Deputy’s tale – Running lives to improve lives
Every day, millions of people wake up, go to work, pay their bills, build their lives and communicate with the world.
However, for many of our clients managing the complexities of daily life is impossible due to physical or mental illness.
If an individual is deemed to lack capacity to manage their property and affairs, the Court of Protection can appoint a Deputy to manage their finances, property and affairs. It is then the Deputy’s responsibility to act in the best interest of the person in need (‘’P’’) and make sure that their assets are safeguarded and accumulated to last a lifetime.
A Deputy can deal with all day-to-day financial administration that most of us take for granted, but that our clients cannot deal with. We are experienced in assisting incapacitated clients with financial administration which includes daily payments as well as more complex considerations such as investments, buying or selling a property, undertaking specialist adaptions to houses for the physically disabled and drafting Wills.
As Deputies it is imperative to ensure that the funds available to P are managed efficiently to last P’s lifetime and that we are able to sustain the annual cost of care and medical treatment which can in some cases cost in excess of £200,000 per annum. We have a duty to invest our clients’ money and engage with finance professionals to make sure we maximise the available funds for P.
Deputies are supervised by the Office of the Public Guardian and Deputies must submit annual reports and answer any questions the OPG might have about the way in which the fund is managed. This might involve review meetings or disclosure of historic transactions.
Every case is different and each client needs to be handled with the utmost care and attention to make sure their specific needs are properly met.
No comments