What the Court of Protection is for
The Court of Protection is the specialist court for England and Wales that makes decisions on behalf of people who lack the mental capacity to make those decisions themselves. Its everyday work is appointing deputies: people, usually relatives, given legal authority to manage someone's property and finances (or, more rarely, their personal welfare) when that person can no longer do so and there is no lasting power of attorney in place. It also makes one-off decisions, such as authorising the sale of a house or settling a dispute about a person's capacity, and it rules on problems with LPAs themselves, including removing an attorney who is misusing their position.
The practical point to hold onto is timing. An LPA is made in advance, while the person still has capacity, and the person chooses who will act. The Court of Protection steps in after capacity has been lost, and the court decides who acts. Everything that follows here is general information rather than legal or financial advice, and it covers England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate systems (guardianship orders and controllership respectively).
When a deputyship is needed
The typical trigger is a diagnosis such as dementia, a stroke or a serious brain injury in someone who never made an LPA. Banks will freeze sole accounts once they learn the holder lacks capacity, and nobody, not even a spouse, has automatic authority over another adult's money. Joint accounts, pensions paid to a partner and small one-off payments sometimes provide workarounds, but for anything substantial (managing savings, selling property, dealing with care fees) a family member must apply to the court to be appointed deputy.
There are two types of deputyship under the GOV.UK deputy guidance: property and financial affairs (by far the more common) and personal welfare. The court appoints welfare deputies only in limited circumstances, because most care and treatment decisions can be made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 best-interests framework without a court order.
How the application works: form COP1 and its companions
The application is paper-based and built around a small family of forms, set out in the GOV.UK application guidance:
- COP1, the main application form.
- COP1A, the supporting annex for property and financial affairs applications, covering the person's assets, income and outgoings.
- COP3, the assessment of capacity, completed by a doctor or another qualified practitioner. The court may not accept an application without it.
- COP4, the deputy's declaration, in which you confirm your own circumstances and undertake to carry out the duties properly.
You must also tell the person the application is about and notify at least three people who know them, usually close relatives, so they have a chance to object. Once appointed, a property and affairs deputy will normally need to put a security bond in place (an insurance policy protecting the person's money) before acting, and every deputy reports annually to the Office of the Public Guardian. Expect the whole process to take some months from posting the forms to receiving the court order; it is not a quick fix for a frozen account.
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What it costs
The fees below are the current figures published on GOV.UK's deputy fees page, verified in July 2026:
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | £432 | Per application (two applications, and two fees, if you apply for both types of deputyship) |
| Hearing fee | £266 | Only if the court decides the case needs a hearing |
| Annual supervision, general | £320 | Most deputies, each year |
| Annual supervision, minimal | £35 | Some property and affairs deputies managing less than £21,000 |
| New deputy assessment fee | £100 | Once, when first appointed |
Fees can normally be paid back out of the funds of the person you are deputy for, and an exemption or reduction is available where they receive certain benefits or have an income below £12,000. Professional deputies charge their own costs on top, which is one reason contested or complex estates become expensive quickly.
Court of Protection vs an LPA: the comparison that matters
Registering a lasting power of attorney costs £92 per LPA, the donor picks their own attorneys and sets any conditions, and the document simply waits until it is needed. A deputyship starts at £432 before supervision fees, runs on the court's timetable, involves annual reporting for life, and the person at the centre of it has no say in who is appointed. The two routes lead to a similar destination, someone trusted managing your affairs, but one is chosen and the other is imposed. Our comparison of power of attorney vs probate covers the related boundary at the other end of life: both LPAs and deputyships end at death, when the estate passes to executors instead.
If you are reading this while a parent or partner still has capacity, the single most useful step is getting LPAs (and an up-to-date will) in place now; our making a will checklist walks through the documents worth sorting at the same time. If capacity has already gone and a deputyship is unavoidable, the forms are manageable for a straightforward estate, but where property sales, disputes between relatives or sizeable assets are involved, it is worth having an estate planning or Court of Protection specialist prepare the application and advise on the deputy's ongoing duties. We can put you in touch with one who handles deputyship work regularly.