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Deputyship COP3 Capacity Assessment
The COP3 Form is used to apply to the Court of Protection when an individual lacks the necessary capacity to make a decision for themselves. Our experts are experienced in completing assessments of capacity for a wide range of decisions, such as property and financial matters, health welfare, making a Will, and more. From our assessment, the Court will then determine if it should appoint a Deputy to manage the specified decision on behalf of the person.
Our team at Nellie Supports complete mental capacity assessments for the court of protection on a daily basis and with in excess of one thousand COP3's completed you know your in safe hands
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.
Part of a deputyship applicaiton is the need for a social worker to complete mental capacity assessment and COP3 Report.
Your Questions Answered
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What is a COP3 mental capacity assessment?
The COP3 Form is used to apply to the Court of Protection when an individual lacks the necessary capacity to make a decision for themselves. Our experts are experienced in completing assessments of capacity for a wide range of decisions, such as property and financial matters, health welfare, making a Will, and more. From our assessment, the Court will then determine if it should appoint a Deputy to manage the specified decision on behalf of the person.
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What to expect in a COP3 mental capacity assessment
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 mental 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 mental capacity assessment is that the person does have the capacity, that's ok, as 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 of the COP3 mental capacity assessment, you have a way of moving forward.
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Who can complete a mental capacity assessment?
When it comes to a COP3 mental capacity assessment for the Court of Protection, a registered health or social care professional must complete the mental capacity assessment and corresponding COP3 report; that's why all of our mental capacity assessors are registered, qualified Social Workers.
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Can we complete video-link or face-to-face mental capacity 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 COP3 mental capacity assessments aren't viable, we offer a fully secure video-link mental capacity 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 and that a COP3 deputyship maybe required. 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 mental 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 mental 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 suffiicent mental 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.
What is a COP3 Assessment?
Form COP3 (an 'assessment of capacity') is used to submit an expert opinion about someone's mental capacity as part of an application to make decisions for them. Our article looks mor eindepth at the COP3 and the legisltation governing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can complete a COP3 form?
The Deputyship applications guidance document from the government specifies that Registered Professionals, including Doctors, Psychiatrists, Mental Health Professionals and Social Workers are qualified to complete COP3 forms. All of our assessors are qualified Social Workers registered with Social Work England and have completed additional training as Montreal Cognitive Assessors to strengthen their COP3 reports.
How long does a capacity assessment take?
When determining the amount of time required to assess an individual's capacity to make decisions, the complexity of the decisions being assessed and the subject's cognitive impairment are both critical factors. Typically, one assessment session can be expected to last between 60-90 minutes for a single decision.
What is the mental capacity assessment for deputyship?
In cases where a person cannot show they have the mental capacity to lay out a Lasting Power of Attorney and—consequently, manage their health and wellbeing or handle their property and finances—an application can be made to the Court of Protection to suggest that a third party take on those roles if suitable.
When assessing for deputyhsip our assessors always consider whjether the individaul does have sufficient capacity to grant lasitng power of attorney as where somoen can make a decision they shoudl be supported to do so.
What are the 4 questions for mental capacity?
The MCA says that a person is unable to make their own decision if they cannot do one or more of the following four things:
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Understand information given to them
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Retain that information long enough to be able to make the decision
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Weigh up the information available to make the decision
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Communicate their decision – this could be by talking, using sign language or even simple muscle movements such as blinking an eye or squeezing a hand.
Can a solicitor complete a COP3?
Your solicitor can complete Part A of the COP3 form. However, the mental capacity section of the COP3 (Part B) must be completed by a qualified, registered health or social care professional such as a Social Worker.
Those who complete Part B of the COP3 should be familiar with the relevant case law, the capacity assessment process, and appropriate government guidance.
Who can assess mental capacity for Court of Protection?
The court of protection advise that those assessign capcity for the court of protection
may be a registered:
– medical practitioner, for example the GP of
the person to whom the application relates;
– psychiatrist
– approved mental health professional
– social worker
– psychologist
– nurse, or
– occupational therapist