GUIDES
A COP3 is the Court of Protection assessment-of-capacity form. The applicant completes Part A and an appropriate assessor completes Part B with current, decision-specific evidence.
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Department for Constitutional Affairs (2007) Mental Capacity Act 2005: Code of Practice. London: The Stationery Office.
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A COP3 is the assessment of capacity form used in Court of Protection applications. This guide explains its purpose, who completes each part, the decision-specific assessment behind it and what a properly reasoned COP3 contains.
COP3 is the assessment-of-capacity form used in Court of Protection applications in England and Wales. The current form asks the applicant to complete Part A and an appropriate assessor to complete Part B; medical practitioners and social care professionals are examples. Each decision needs current evidence of the person’s supported decision-making and, where inability is found, its connection to an impairment or disturbance of mind or brain. The court determines the application.
The COP3 is the assessment of capacity form used in Court of Protection applications. It provides the court with evidence that the person the application concerns lacks capacity to make the relevant decisions, most often about their property and affairs or their personal welfare. It usually accompanies an application such as a deputyship.
A COP3 normally accompanies an application based on a person’s inability to make relevant decisions, including deputyship applications. It provides evidence for the court to decide whether the statutory requirements are met; the form itself does not establish jurisdiction conclusively. If it cannot be obtained, check the current application guidance and ask what alternative evidence or directions may be needed.
Use an appropriate assessor for the person and the decisions in issue. COP3 identifies medical practitioners and social care professionals as examples and asks for qualifications, training, practical experience, professional relationship and freedom from conflict. A professional title or registration alone does not demonstrate competence for every instruction. Part B must reflect the assessor’s own opinion and be signed with its statement of truth.
A COP3 is only as strong as the assessment underpinning it. The assessor must identify the relevant decisions, apply the two-stage test, and explain how an impairment of the mind or brain causes the person to be unable to make those decisions. A form that asserts incapacity without this reasoning is vulnerable to questions from the court.
The Court of Protection deals with specific decisions, so a COP3 should address the decisions the application actually concerns, such as managing property and finances or making welfare choices. Treating capacity as a single global state, rather than examining the relevant decisions, is a common weakness in completed forms.
Applications often concern property and affairs, personal welfare, or both, and the relevant information differs between them. A COP3 supporting a financial deputyship should focus on the person's ability to make financial decisions, while a welfare application focuses on the relevant welfare decisions. The form should match the order being sought.
A COP3 must reflect the person's capacity as it is now, not as it was some time ago. Courts expect a recent assessment, and an out of date form may be questioned or rejected. Where capacity fluctuates or is borderline, the assessment should say so and explain how the conclusion was reached at the time of assessment.
The form should identify each decision and its salient information, support, findings on understanding, retention, use or weighing and communication, and any impairment and causal explanation. It asks for the person’s views, assessment date and method, prospects of regaining capacity and relevant limitations. Follow the current form’s sections and statement of truth rather than relying on a generic letter.
A COP3 is the capacity evidence at the heart of a Court of Protection application. Its value lies in a properly reasoned, decision-specific and current assessment that links impairment to inability. A form completed mechanically, or by someone unfamiliar with the test, risks delay or rejection.
The COP3 is not completed by one person alone. Part A is filled in by the applicant or their solicitor, describing the application and the decisions involved. Part B is completed by a professional who has assessed the person, such as a doctor, psychologist, social worker, nurse or occupational therapist with relevant knowledge of the person's condition.
A deputyship application normally requires a COP3, because the court needs professional evidence that the person cannot make the relevant decisions themselves. The court can accept alternative forms of capacity evidence in limited circumstances, but a properly completed COP3 is the standard route and avoids delay.
Yes. Common reasons include an assessment that addresses capacity in general terms rather than the specific decisions in the application, missing or thin reasoning, an out-of-date assessment, unexplained conflict with other evidence, or an assessor without relevant expertise. A questioned COP3 usually means delay and a further assessment. How recent must the assessment be? The court expects the assessment to reflect the person's current circumstances. There is no fixed statutory time limit, but assessments completed close to the application carry the most weight, and older evidence is more likely to be questioned or need updating, particularly where the person's condition fluctuates.
The related pages below explain connected decisions, evidence requirements and legal processes.
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