GUIDES
If the Court of Protection directs Article 5 evidence for a property sale, follow the actual order. Check its questions, evidence requirements and deadline rather than assuming a universal checklist.
Author: Nellie Supports Ltd
Publication Date: 15/05/2026
Mental Capacity Act 2005, c. 9. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/9/contents
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If the Court of Protection directs Article 5 evidence for a property sale, follow the actual order. Check its questions, evidence requirements and deadline rather than assuming a universal checklist. The following sections explain how to organise living-arrangements evidence, distinguish facts from opinion and keep liberty, capacity and authority separate.
A Court of Protection direction may require evidence about a person’s living arrangements alongside a proposed property sale. Read the sealed order and identify exactly who must file what, by when and with which supporting material. AGNI supplies the current Article 5 approach, but does not itself impose a universal six-part checklist, 28-day deadline or six-month medication period for every property application.
List each paragraph of the actual direction, the responsible person, evidence needed and due date. Check whether the court requests a witness statement, capacity evidence, expert opinion, existing authorisation or other document. COP24 is a witness-statement form; COP14PADep concerns notification of a property and affairs deputyship application and should not be described as a general deputy’s declaration. If a form or requirement is unclear, seek clarification rather than inventing a substitute.
If a DoLS authorisation or relevant court order exists, identify its dates, scope, conditions and review position and provide it if required. State accurately if none is current and what enquiries have been made. Absence does not prove that authorisation is unnecessary, and existing authority was not automatically cancelled by AGNI. Address any current liberty concern through the appropriate legal route as well as complying with the property direction.
Short, factual and observed. The type of home, the person's room and whether it is shared, the communal areas, the garden and whether it is accessible, the front door and whether it is keypad or key controlled, the staffing pattern by day and night. A statement that the home is a registered care home with a good inspection rating is not a description of the person's living arrangements. The judge wants to be able to picture where the person is.
Use the actual order to define the required detail. Relevant facts may include locked or monitored doors, supervision, restraint, sensors, visits, outings and what happens when the person wants to leave or refuses care. Identify who imposes each restriction, its duration, purpose and effect, and distinguish an imposed barrier from physical inability. Explain the evidence source and any gap. No single item determines objective confinement on its own.
Use the records for the period the court actually specifies or the question reasonably requires. Identify relevant medication, doses or administrations, recorded reasons, effect on alertness or behaviour and who can explain clinical context. Sedation may affect both restriction and the person’s ability to express wishes, but a medication’s name or PRN label does not itself prove coercion. If records are incomplete, state the gap and steps taken to obtain them.
Support direct communication and record the person’s account or other means of expression, alongside observations and relevant records. Ask how they experience the arrangements and whether they accept or object to them, without leading answers. Consider patterns outside the visit, staff and family accounts, medication and pressure. Distinguish each source. Compliance alone is not valid consent, and serious doubt must not be resolved by assuming contentment.
Where required, the applicant should explain their position by reference to identified evidence. Article 5 requires analysis of objective confinement, absence of valid consent and state responsibility. Separate the witness’s factual account from any expert opinion and legal submissions. Do not adopt a report without understanding its scope, or assume that a paid independent report is required unless the order or evidence needs justify one.
Check the actual due date and how the order defines the time period; do not assume it runs from receipt or that every order allows 28 days. Plan records, communication, any assessment and statement preparation accordingly. Number exhibits clearly and consider a short schedule showing where each requirement is answered. If capacity-to-sell evidence is also directed, identify it separately. Seek legal advice promptly about clarification or an extension before a deadline is missed.
Answer the actual direction, using current evidence and clearly identified sources. Apply the full Article 5 analysis and keep it distinct from capacity to sell, authority and best interests. Check the correct forms and deadline; a report or compliance schedule assists review but cannot guarantee that the court will authorise a sale.
It arrives in the order itself, often the order appointing the deputy, and the court does not notify the applicant separately. Read every order for directions on the day it arrives and note the issue date, because the 28 days run from issue.
A care-home manager’s account may provide useful evidence about restrictions, records and the person’s behaviour over time. Identify its source and limits and check it against the order. Additional communication, records or expert analysis may be required, but no general rule makes every provider letter inadequate or every private report sufficient.
File capacity-to-sell evidence if the application, rules or actual direction require it. COP3 and Article 5 material answer different questions and should be clearly distinguished. If the timetable cannot be met, obtain procedural advice about an extension or other directions promptly. Do not assume that rule 13.4 creates a universal 21-day extension application period; follow the order and applicable rules.
The related pages below explain connected decisions, evidence requirements and legal processes.
Before seeking a report, write down the exact decision, relevant date, reason for concern and intended use. Gather the documents that explain the real options and any communication needs. Check any required form or court direction, agree the scope and total fee, and clarify how missing evidence or further questions will be handled.
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