Court of Protection

[SkemJazzer]

I’m currently in the process of buying a house but have run into a pretty big problem just as contracts were about to be exchanged and I was wondering if anyone could help.

The house belongs to a lady in her 90’s and her health has been deteriorating for a while. Around 10 months ago she moved in with her son as she could no longer look after herself and it was decided to sell the ladies house.

I made an offer on the house which was accepted and all was going well until contract time when it seems that the lady no longer has the mental capacity to make her own decisions. The son says that she’s fine in the morning bud fades in the afternoon.

I have now been advised that as there was no power of attorney in place the family will have to apply to become a deputy through the Court of Protection before the sale can be completed.

I was wondering if anyone had experience with this and how long it usually takes? If the family goes through the courts can they claim the fees back through the proceeds of sale of the property? Is there anything else that I should be aware of?

Thanks

[Pro Bono]

I've applied for several deputyships, and I would say that the minimum time for an order to be issued is about four months from the date of filing the application. And that assumes there are no objections to the application or other complications.

There is a procedure to make an urgent application, but I doubt this situation would be considered sufficiently urgent to justify it.

The court fees are only a few hundred pounds, and are payable out of the old woman's property, as are any legal fees incurred in making the application.

[dingg]

I'm on the other side of your situation.
The court of protection are purchasing my property for a disabled child and family.
Its been quite a fraught and drawn out purchase as they need ALL the conditions to be satisfied before committing cash but they dont seem to mind spending on lawyers architects a team of 5 surveyors who were there 6 hrs money which I imagine comes out of the childs pot.

Only good thing is no chain as cash buyers..

[ellroy]

If the lady is fine in the morning why doesn’t the family get a meeting sorted with the lawyers arranged for a morning?

A LPoA would be damn site cheaper and easier to sort out and register I’d have thought.

[dazzalse]

We had to do it for a family member in similar circumstance's, it was quite long and drawn out and took 7 months if I remember right but was a few years ago, not sure if the process is any quicker now