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Deputyship COP3 Capacity Assessment
You can apply to become someone’s deputy if they lack the mental capacity to make a decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made, for example, because of an illness or accident, or because they have dementia or severe learning disabilities.
As a deputy, you’ll be authorised by the Court of Protection to make decisions on their behalf. You can apply to be someone’s deputy to help them manage property and financial affairs, or to help them manage their personal welfare, including their health, wellbeing and care.
When you apply to the Court of Protection to become a deputy, the courts require a Mental Capacity Assessment to be completed by a health and social care professional, commonly referred to as a COP3.
What is a Deputyship order
You can apply to become someone’s deputy if they lack the mental capacity to make a decision for themselves at the time it needs to be made, for example, because of an illness or accident, or because they have dementia or severe learning disabilities.
As a deputy, you’ll be authorised by the Court of Protection to make decisions on their behalf. You can apply to be someone’s deputy to help them manage property and financial affairs, or to help them manage their personal welfare, including their health, wellbeing and care.
Your Questions Answered
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What to expect
Our assessments usually take around an hour, and our friendly, experienced social workers do their best to make sure it's a comfortable and relaxed experience. We're accredited expert mental capacity assessors, so you're in good hands.
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What happens if the outcome is that you do have capacity?
For many people applying for a deputyship order is due to a need to move forward with helping a loved one with managing their finances, so if the outcome of the assessment is that we always aim to discuss lasting powers of attorney (finances) with a client and to gain evidence of their capacity around this decision. This way, regardless of the outcome, you have a way of moving forward.
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Who can complete a mental capacity assessment?
In cases involving complex or major decisions, you may need to get a professional opinion. The assessor must be an impartial, qualified professional, such as a doctor, nurse, or social worker.
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Can we complete video-link or face to face assessments?
We can visit you in your own home or any other suitable space you feel most comfortable and at a time of your choosing. In those instances where face-to-face assessments aren't viable, we offer a fully secure video-link assessment service.
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Can you serve COP14PADep (Certificate of Notification / Non-Notification of the person to whom the proceedings relate)
The court of protection requires that any applicant must notify the person to whom they are applying to the court of protection. This is done through the completion of a COP14aDep form. Serving papers in many instances in the court of protection cases can mean working with vulnerable adults; as such, our team at Nellie Supports ensure documents are served in a timely and compassionate manner.
Accreditations
Social Work England is a specialist body taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. All of our Social Workers are registered with Social Work England for your peace of mind.
Our assessors are accredited Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) assessors with specific experience in completing capacity assessments and specialist reports.
All of our assessors have undergone extra training to become accredited financial vulnerability experts according to Lichtenberg standards, so they can provide even more detailed reports on mental capacity.
CASE STUDY
David's life then started to become complicated.
David contacted a solicitor who organised to complete a lasting power of attorney application for Janet. However, the solicitor was concerned that Janet might not have the sufficient mental capacity to grant lasting power of attorney, another stumbling block for David. The solicitor advised David to contact the GP, who would complete a mental capacity assessment. If this was all clear, they could move on with the application.
Three months later and David had still not heard back from Janet's GP, and the care home fees were beginning to mount. David chased the GP again to be told: "I'm sorry the GP won't complete this type of capacity assessment.
This is where Nellie Supports stepped in. David contacted us and explained the situation; we attended to Janet two days later to assess whether she had sufficient capacity to grant a lasting power of attorney. Unfortunately, due to the delay, Janet's condition had worsened, and she was unable to evidence her capacity to retain any of the information given to her. Nellie Supports Social workers seeing that Janet lacked the capacity for this specific decision.
However, to ensure that David and Janet could move forward, our mental capacity assessor completed a further assessment at no additional cost. This additional mental capacity assessment looked into whether Janet could independently manage her property and financial affairs and allowed our assessor to complete a COP3 Mental Capacity Assessment.
This was a huge relief for Janet and David, as their solicitor was then able to finalise a deputyship application without any more delays. This way, David would be able to assist his Mum going forward.
