The Day Of A Court Of Protection Apprentice – Applying For A Property & Financial Affairs Deputyship Order

My name is Chelsea and I started with Nelsons in March this year, I work with the Court of Protection team as an Apprentice Paralegal.

I had been in the office just a couple of weeks before the national lockdown was announced, I then had to start working from home whilst still being very new to the role. Although this was not ideal, I’ve had lots of support from all my colleagues and have learnt so much in the last couple of months.

I have recently been working on drafting Deputyship applications to the Court of Protection, this involves drafting the following documents:

• COP1 – application form
• COP1A – supporting information for property and financial affairs
• COP3 – assessment of capacity
• COP4– deputy’s declaration

A COP1 form is the original application that gets sent to the Court of Protection, this has to state the type of application we intend to make, which would usually be for an “appointment of a deputy for property and affairs”. It also includes our details and the client’s details, and close members of family or friends that will be notified of the application.

We would then complete a COP1A form, this has to include the client’s personal details, including whether there is a Will, income and assets, bank accounts and investments.

A COP3 is then completed, this is the mental capacity assessment form, and we complete Part A of the document and then pass it onto a medical practitioner to complete Part B which confirms whether the client has the mental capacity to make the relevant decision.

The proposed deputy then completes a COP4, this is the Deputy Declaration. The Court uses this to assess the suitability of a Deputy before making a decision on whether or not they should be the Deputy.

Being a part of Nelsons’ Court of Protection team has allowed me to be involved in the complex deputyship applications for the most vulnerable people in our area.