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Court of Protection hearings
There are situations where disputes arise relating to powers of attorney or the Court of Protection, which can lead to hearings.
You may have recently been served with notice that an attorney for a loved one is trying to register the enduring powers of attorney (EPA) or lasting powers of attorney (LPA) with the Court.
You may not be happy that the power is being granted to the correct person or the person had the necessary capacity to make the power in the first place.
You may be aware that an attorney is already acting under a registered EPA or LPA but you have doubts as to the actions they are taking. You may also be an Attorney who is being challenged by other family members.
You may be unhappy with the proposed appointment of a Deputy or that a Deputy is not acting in the person’s best interests. Alternatively, you may be a Deputy who is facing a challenge to your conduct.
How can Linder Myers help?
It is important that you seek legal advice before acting on an objection. The general rule as to costs in the Court of Protection is that the objector’s costs will be paid from the estate of the person who lacks capacity. However, you are only protected as to your costs position if you act reasonably at all times.
If you do decide to object to the registration of an EPA or LPA and/or the actions of an attorney or deputy, you will need to comply with the formalities of the Court of Protection in lodging your application.
In our experience it is very easy for a lay person to come across in a negative light in any Witness Statement that they try to draft themselves without legal advice and feedback.
For attorneys
If you are an attorney and you have recently come under attack from a family member as to how you have been acting and it may be that you have already been contacted by the Court of Protection in relation to this.
In these circumstances, it is crucial that you at the very least take legal advice and almost certainly then obtain legal assistance to defend any action against you and justify the actions you have already taken in your role as an Attorney.
Why choose Linder Myers?
Linder Myers have a dedicated team with experience of Court of Protection matters in general and specifically in relation to contested hearings at the Court of Protection.
We will always guide you to act in a firm yet reasonable way at these hearings to ensure that your position in relation to costs is protected; as there is always a risk of entering into litigation and not only having to pay your own legal costs but also the other side’s costs too.
Our approach to these contested hearings is to try to ensure that you need not attend any hearing at Court. We aim for any dispute to be settled either by consent or by a Judge looking at the written evidence only.
We find that this is a more beneficial way of dealing with disputes for everyone concerned, although admittedly there will be instances where a person is behaving so unreasonably that there is no option but to attend a contested hearing.
