GUIDES
For complex estates, COP3 must address the property and financial decisions in the application and the support the person needs. Estate value does not change the statutory test or justify a blanket finding that the person cannot make any financial decision.
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Trustee Act 1925, c. 19. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/19/contents
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For complex estates, COP3 must address the property and financial decisions in the application and the support the person needs. Estate value does not change the statutory test or justify a blanket finding that the person cannot make any financial decision. This guide covers the relevant evidence, support, process and limits in England and Wales.
For complex estates, COP3 must address the property and financial decisions in the application and the support the person needs. Estate value does not change the statutory test or justify a blanket finding that the person cannot make any financial decision. Present significant assets and decisions accessibly, using appropriate professional advice. The assessor is not valuing the estate or advising whether the proposed financial strategy is wise.
Capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is decision-specific, so the question in a COP3 assessment is whether the person can make decisions about their own property and financial affairs, and the information relevant to that question scales with the affairs themselves. A person may retain capacity to manage day-to-day spending whilst being unable to weigh decisions about a trading company, an investment portfolio or a trust of which they are both settlor and beneficiary, and a careful assessment identifies that distinction rather than flattening it into a single global answer.
Unconventional choices, gifts or financial risk-taking do not alone establish incapacity. Assess the person’s supported ability to make the actual decision, rather than whether others regard the strategy as sensible.
Capacity evidence may be considered by the court, parties and advisers in the application. Give a transparent account of the evidence and limitations suitable for that process. Do not assume that every valuable estate will produce a contested application or requires an adversarial approach.
Check that the COP3 answers the decisions in Part A and the court’s directions. Missing reasoning or out-of-date information may require clarification and create delay. The appropriate remedy depends on the gap, rather than the value of the assets alone.
Explain any inability to make the relevant decision and whether an impairment or disturbance causes it. Show what information and support were given and how the person responded. Do not treat a diagnosis or inability to manage one part of an estate as proof that every financial decision is beyond them.
Provide accessible information about significant trusts, businesses or investments relevant to the decision. The assessor need not value assets or give financial advice, but should understand the proposal well enough to identify its significant consequences and the support available.
Agree secure ways to provide and receive the relevant financial and health information. Ask who will receive the report, how records are retained and how errors are corrected. Collect only information needed for the instruction and applicable duties.
Keep the person involved and record what they can still decide, the support they use and their own views. Neither the estate’s complexity nor another person’s preference justifies taking over decisions the person can make.
Apply the same statutory test to the actual affairs, with information and support appropriate to the person. COP3 provides evidence; any deputy’s powers come from the court’s order and do not extend to decisions the person can make themselves.
The legal test is identical. What differs is the relevant information the person must be able to weigh and the depth of evidence the application will need to withstand scrutiny.
Yes, and a good one will distinguish between them, because capacity is decision-specific and may be retained for some financial decisions whilst absent for others.
The form says its contents are confidential to the court and people it authorises, including parties. Disclosure depends on the proceedings and applicable directions. The assessor needs enough information about the assets and relevant advice to assess the decision but does not replace valuation or legal advice.
The related guides below provide further explanation of the decisions, evidence and legal processes discussed here.
List the specific decisions and summarise the assets in a form the person can engage with. Provide the application and relevant advice, and ask the assessor to distinguish retained everyday abilities from any difficulty with complex matters.
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