Using a Court of Protection Order

As a reminder, a Court of Protection Order is a legal document. It appoints someone (a ‘deputy’) to make decisions for someone else (the 'donor'). 

The Order is issued by the Court of Protection. And it’s only made when the donor lacks mental capacity and there’s no lasting power of attorney (LPA) in place.  

When the Court appoints you as a deputy, you agree to make decisions in the donor’s best interests. And you can only act in ways that the Court have set out in the Order. 

Once you’ve registered a Court of Protection Order with us, you can access the donor’s accounts in branch or at a cash machine. And in some cases, we can give you online access using the Internet Bank. 

However you choose to bank, you must always act in line with the Court of Protection Order.

As a deputy, you can make payments and transfers in branch. You can also manage regular payments like standing orders.

If you’d like one, we may be able to offer you a card for a donor’s account. So, you can make withdrawals at a cash machine – without having to come into branch. 

You can call us to ask us any questions about the accounts you’re managing. But you cannot use telephone banking to make transactions. And we cannot give you access to anyone else’s accounts using our mobile Banking app yet.  

The Court of Protection will decide what you can (and cannot) do as a deputy. So, as well as acting in the donor’s best interests, you must only act in ways that the Court allows.

There are some things a deputy should not do with a donor’s money. For example, a deputy must never mix their own money with the donor’s money. And they cannot use the donor’s money to pay for expensive gifts for other people.

Remember that the Office of the Public Guardian may ask you to show proof of any money you’ve spent from the donor’s accounts in an annual report. We can provide you with account statements to help with this. 

Once the Court of Protection Order is registered with us, some of the things you may be able to do include: 

You’ll need to apply to the Court of Protection to make any changes once an Order has been granted.

Anyone can apply to the Court to make a change to an existing Order. But the Court does not have to make the changes someone requests.

If you want to make a change to an existing Order, for example, you’d like more or less responsibility for the donor, you’ll need to apply directly to the Court of Protection.

You can apply to change the Order by sending a completed application and witness statement by post. Or use a solicitor to help you. 

Sometimes, a donor or their family may want to change a Court of Protection Order. They also need to apply to the Court of Protection to do this – either completing forms themselves or using a solicitor. 

If the Court makes any changes to an existing Order, the deputy will need to let us know in writing. And we’ll need to see a copy of the new Order once it is issued.

In most cases, a Court of Protection Order will last for the whole of the donor’s lifetime. However, either the donor or the deputy can apply to end the Order or their deputyship if they want to. 

If the donor feels they now have the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, they can apply to the Court to end the Order.

The Court will want to see evidence that the donor has mental capacity. This means the donor needs to prove that they are able to make their own decisions. And if the court agrees, they will end the Order.

Someone on the donor’s behalf can also apply to the Court to replace a deputy. If the Court agrees, a new deputy will be appointed and the existing deputy removed from the Order.

If the deputy decides they no longer want to support the donor, they can apply to the Court to end their deputyship. 

The Court might ask the deputy to suggest someone to replace them. Or the Court can appoint a panel deputy if no one suitable is available. 

To appoint a new deputy, the Court will revoke the original Order and issue a new one. With the new Order, the previous deputy no longer has any responsibility for the donor.