Deprivation Of Liberty: Standard Authorisation – A New Requirement For Applying For Permission To Sell A Protected Party’s Property

The Deprivation of Liberty Standard Authorisation (standard authorisation) is now required for all Court of Protection applications where permission is sought to sell the protected party’s property and they reside in a care home. A Deprivation of Liberty (often referred to as a DOLS) is in place to protect anyone from having his or her liberty taken away without good reason.

A Deprivation of Liberty can last for a maximum of 12 months. However, the duration should be for the shortest possible time. Most residents in a care home will be subject to a Deprivation of their Liberty. A Deprivation of Liberty occurs whenever a person is not free to go anywhere without authorisation and they are continuously monitored. For example, many care homes have keypad access or lock entrances and exits using a key. This means that residents cannot freely leave without authorisation and are therefore being deprived of their liberty.

Court of Protection Guidance

The Court of Protection has now issued guidance requiring a copy of the current standard authorisation for the protected party to be provided with the application before they will consider providing permission to sell the protected party’s property. This is to ensure that their stay in the care home is in their best interests and that there is no possibility that they might return home to live. This is to prevent the protected party’s property from being sold when it is not specifically required.

Obtaining a copy of the standard authorisation should be straightforward if the protected party has been residing in residential care for some time. However, where there is no current standard authorisation in place for the protected party’s deprivation of liberty, the local authority will need to be contacted in order to carry out the necessary assessment and provide the authorisation.

In order to minimise delays in submitting an application to the Court, it should be checked with the care home whether there is a standard authorisation in place, and if not, arrange for this to be provided as soon as possible. Applications for a standard authorisation do not come at a cost to the protected party and the Local Authority will carry out the assessment themselves.

Once the standard authorisation has been approved, a copy should be provided along with the application and any other supporting documents, to the Court.

How can Nelsons helpStandard Authorisation Sell Property

Tanya Kirman is a Paralegal in our expert Court of Protection team. Tanya specialises in all aspects of Court of Protection work, including management of property and financial affairs under the authority of deputy and attorney appointments.

For further information concerning the topics discussed in this article or any related matters, please contact Tanya or another member of our team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.

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