APPLYING FOR A COURT OF PROTECTION ORDER
This entitles carers/next of kin to be solely responsible for supervising the finances of a person with severe learning difficulties from their 18th birthday including all bank accounts in their name.
A Court Of Protection Order can also be used to support certain other legal issues concerning an adult with profound and complex learning disabilities, who therefore requires high support needs.
The Public Guardianship Office processes the Order after application forms have been returned to London. Although the forms are not difficult to understand or fill in, there are several lengthy forms to deal with, which can take some considerable time to complete.
If the disabled person has been told they will receive Income Support indefinitely, then you can submit your request at any time without pressure.
However, if the service user (disabled person) is under 18 years of age, time is not on your side. This is because on reaching their 18th birthday, Income Support is retracted and replaced by additional money payable on the Incapacity Benefit, which they will be already receiving.
The Public Guardianship Office will only excuse the full payment - £250.00 if the recipient is currently drawing Income Support. This means that when the disabled person reaches their 17th birthday, this is the ideal opportunity to request the application package.
Providing the claimant only possesses a small sum of money such as savings in a bank or building society account a "Short Order" is made out at no cost. But you have to declare how much money the disabled person has.
Nevertheless, be on your guard. The application form states you need to send the £250.00 fee with your completed forms. That is, it fails to mention that no charge will be made for those people getting Income Support.
In other words, the forms are designed to cater for disabled people with a wide range of annual income and other assets, which is not the ideal situation.
A short accompanying letter specifically explaining that you are not forwarding the fee because the recipient is on Income Support is the best way of drawing this to the attention of The Public Guardianship Office. This clearly shows that you have not forgotten to enclose the fee. Processing is swift and an advice line is on hand to clarify procedures relating to your application.
Information on the Court Of Protection Order can be obtained at
Archway Tower
2 Junction Road
London N19 5SZ
Customer Services 0845 330 2900
General enquiries 020 7664 7000