If you’re paying for care privately, you might assume someone is keeping an eye on whether it’s still the right care. Often, no one is. Once a person moves onto self-funded care, the regular oversight that comes with local authority funded placements largely falls away, and the responsibility for spotting when something isn’t right shifts … Read more
If an LPA is found to have been signed without proper capacity, the Court of Protection can declare it void and the attorney’s authority ends. Concerns usually surface after registration, raised by a bank, care provider, or family member, and can lead to an OPG investigation before any final decision is made. Where the LPA … Read more
Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, no single person’s view automatically counts for more, not the family’s, not the professionals’, not even the person’s own past wishes on their own. A decision-maker has to weigh all the available evidence together and explain how they reached their conclusion. In practice, disagreements are usually resolved by whichever … Read more
You’ve raised a safeguarding concern about someone you love. Maybe it was a phone call to the council, maybe it was a conversation with a district nurse that turned into something more formal. Now you are waiting, and nobody has quite explained what happens next. A section 42 enquiry is the process a local authority … Read more
A professional deputy appointed by the Court of Protection is expected to act within four standards set by the Office of the Public Guardian: making best interests decisions properly, engaging meaningfully with the person they represent (P), managing finances responsibly, and safeguarding health and welfare. Each standard needs to be evidenced, not assumed. Independent social … Read more
No. A dementia diagnosis on its own never proves someone lacks capacity, and the law is explicit about this. Capacity is assessed decision by decision, not diagnosis by diagnosis, and a person can have dementia while still having full capacity to make many of their own choices. The same goes for decisions others see as … Read more
Families often tell me the same thing when a loved one is going through a health or social care process: they feel talked over, not talked to. Meetings happen, decisions get made, and somehow the person at the centre of it all, along with the people who love them, are left finding out afterwards. This … Read more
Poor care and a safeguarding issue are not the same thing, and the difference comes down to intent and risk. Poor care is a standards problem, such as missed tasks, understaffing, or a care plan not being followed. A safeguarding issue means an adult with care and support needs is experiencing, or is at risk of, … Read more
When capacity is borderline, everything comes down to one person in the room: the certificate provider. Get their judgement right, and the LPA holds. Get it wrong, and you’ve built something that can unravel the moment it’s tested. I’m often asked this by families at the worst possible moment, usually after a diagnosis, a fall, … Read more
If someone close to you is struggling to manage their affairs, and you are thinking about applying to the Court of Protection, you will almost certainly come across something called a COP3 assessment. It can feel like a daunting piece of paperwork in an already stressful situation. This post explains what it is, why it … Read more
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