Mental Capacity - Court Of Protection

Mental Capacity

If you need to make an application to the Court of protection on behalf of a loved one then we can help.

The Mental Capacity Act provides a framework to protect individuals who may lack capacity to make some decisions for themselves. The Act makes clear who can take decisions in which situations, and how these decisions should be made. It applies whether they are life changing decisions or every day matters and is relevant to adults of any age, regardless of when they lost capacity.

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The Key Principles

There are five key principles highlighted in the Act:

  • Every adult has the right to make his or her own decisions and must be assumed to have capacity to make them unless it is proved otherwise.
  • A person must be given all practicable help before anyone treats them as not being able to make their own decisions.
  • Just because an individual makes what might be seen as an unwise decision, they should not be treated as lacking capacity to make that decision.
  • Anything done or any decision made on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done in their best interests.
  • Anything done for or on behalf of a person who lacks capacity should be the least restrictive of their basic rights and freedoms.

Power Of Attorney

If a person has mental capacity then they can create a Power of Attorney to decide who would act on their behalf should they lose their mental capacity in time. You should be aware that the Power of Attorney will only be valid if a professional deems that the individual has mental capacity to make the document.

However, not everyone is aware of this document and the use of it, so sometimes decisions don’t need to be made until someone has actually lost their mental capacity. This is when you would have to apply to the Court of Protection.

Court Of Protection

If someone has lost the capacity to make decisions, and a decision has to be made, a representative on behalf of the individual will have to make an application to the Court of Protection for a Judge to issue paperwork allowing that representative to make decisions on behalf of the individual.

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We act for clients in Corby, Kettering, across Northamptonshire as well as all over the country in England and Wales. Distance is not a problem!

Call our Corby office on 01536 276300 or our Kettering office on 01536 311690 today or contact us online.

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