Author and Publication
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Citation
The Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1987/2024/contents
Copywright
Copyright © 2026 Nellie Supports Ltd. All rights reserved.
This article is made available for general information, education and professional reference. It may be downloaded, printed and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided that it is reproduced in full, is not altered in any way, and is properly cited as the work of Nellie Supports Ltd. This material must not be edited, adapted, sold, republished, incorporated into commercial products, or used for commercial training, assessment, report-writing or advisory services without prior written permission from Nellie Supports Ltd.
This article does not constitute legal advice, clinical advice or a substitute for a decision-specific professional assessment. Where legislation, government guidance, court forms or external professional materials are referred to, those materials remain subject to their own copyright, licensing and re-use terms.
PA14, deputyship and Court of Protection: how they connect
The PA14, deputyship and the Court of Protection form one map, read from a single question: who can lawfully act for a person who lacks capacity? The PA14 evidences incapacity for the narrow purpose of a probate application, allowing an attorney or deputy to take the grant for the person's use and benefit. Deputyship is the Court of Protection's broader authority over property and affairs where no Lasting Power of Attorney exists. The same underlying capacity evidence often serves both routes, which is why they are best planned together. This guide explains how the three connect and the order to take them in.
Three regimes, one person
The PA14, deputyship and the Court of Protection are three pieces of machinery that meet around the same person: a probate certificate evidencing that someone entitled to a grant cannot take it, a court-appointed role for managing that person's property and affairs and the court that appoints and supervises it. Families usually encounter them in that order, through an estate that has stalled, and understanding how they connect turns a bewildering sequence into a manageable one.
The PA14's job and its limit
The PA14 does one thing: it certifies, for the probate registry, that an entitled person lacks capacity for the estate role, so the grant can issue to someone who can act. It changes nothing about the person's own affairs. Their bank accounts, property, income and, pointedly, any inheritance flowing from the very estate being administered remain unmanaged unless other machinery exists, and that limit is where the deputyship question begins for many families.
What a deputy is and when one is needed
A property and affairs deputy is appointed by the Court of Protection to manage the affairs of a person who lacks capacity to manage them and who made no LPA whilst they could. The application is evidenced by the COP3 capacity assessment, addressed fully in our COP3 guides, and the deputy's authority is whatever the order confers: typically the ongoing management of income, accounts and property, with larger steps such as property sales or substantial gifts requiring specific or further authority.
The common sequence: PA14 first, deputyship close behind
The regimes connect most often in one direction: the PA14 unblocks the estate, and the deputyship application follows to manage what the person already has and what the estate will deliver to them. Running the two in parallel, rather than discovering the second need after distribution has stalled, saves months, because the Court of Protection timetable is the longer of the two and an inheritance cannot properly be paid to a person who lacks capacity until the machinery to receive it exists.
Where an LPA changes the map
A registered property and financial affairs LPA redraws everything: the attorney can usually take the grant for the person's use and benefit, manage their existing affairs and receive the inheritance, all under the instrument the person made whilst capacitous, with no deputyship needed. Checking for an LPA or registrable enduring power is therefore the first practical step in every one of these cases, and its frequent absence is the standing argument for making one before the question ever arises.
One evidential thread through all three
Each regime asks its own form of the same question, and the evidence should be built once: a recent decision-specific capacity assessment covering the estate role and the person's property and affairs, from which the PA14 is completed, the COP3 prepared and any court query answered consistently. Separate thin documents commissioned piecemeal invite the registries and the court to notice their differences; one substantive assessment serving all three is faster, cheaper and safer.
Who does what, and in what order
In a typical case: the family or solicitor identifies the incapacity and commissions the assessment; the PA14 is completed and the probate application proceeds through the next entitled person or attorney; the deputyship application is issued to the Court of Protection with the COP3; the estate is administered whilst the deputyship matures; and distribution to the person is timed to the order, with interim arrangements agreed where needed. Each actor works from the same evidence, and the timelines are managed together rather than discovered sequentially.
Costs, delay and the planning lesson
The connected process is workable but neither quick nor free: court fees, assessment costs, the deputy's security bond and ongoing supervision all attach, and the Court of Protection stage is measured in months. Every part of that weight exists because no LPA was made in time, which is the enduring lesson these cases teach: capacity machinery chosen whilst capacity remains costs a fraction, in money and delay, of the machinery the court must build afterwards.
Key takeaway
The PA14, deputyship and the Court of Protection connect as stages of one problem: an estate that cannot move through a person, affairs that person cannot manage and a court that supplies the authority nobody arranged in advance. Check for an LPA first, build one assessment to serve every stage and run the applications in parallel, and the connection becomes a route through rather than a maze around.
Frequently asked questions
Does a diagnosis automatically mean someone lacks capacity?
No. A diagnosis may explain why capacity is in doubt, but it does not answer the legal question. The assessment must still consider the specific decision, the relevant information, the support provided and whether the person can understand, retain, use or weigh that information and communicate a decision.
What evidence is useful for PA14 Probate Mental Capacity Assessment?
The capacity assessment, any LPA or deputyship order, and the probate papers. Where no attorney or deputy exists yet, the capacity evidence supports the deputyship application first and then, once the deputy is appointed, the grant application.
When is a formal assessment for PA14 Probate Mental Capacity Assessment useful?
Assess formally where the person's incapacity affects both the probate and their wider affairs: one properly structured assessment can serve the PA14, a COP3 for deputyship and the family's planning, without repeated visits to the person.
Related mental capacity assessment pages
These internal links help readers move from this guide to the most relevant Nellie Supports service page, assessment option or legal framework page.
Probate and deputyship colliding?
Nellie Supports completes PA14 probate capacity assessments across England and Wales, with a same working day response to every enquiry and every report peer reviewed before delivery. Call 0333 987 5118 or visit the PA14 probate assessment service page.