Re Jones [2014] EWCOP 59
May 2016 #159Mr Jones suffered from dementia and lacked testamentary capacity and capacity to make significant lifetime gifts. He had an estate of approximately £2.3m and was intestate. The effect of his dying intestate would be that, following the statutory legacy of £250,000 plus personal chattels to his wife, Mrs Jones, outright, Mrs Jones would receive half of the remainder of the estate absolutely and his daughter from a previous relationship, Ms Dawson, would receive the other half of the estate.
Ms Dawson’s mother and Mr Jones had separated when she was a child whereupon Ms Dawson...
Re KJP [2016] EWCOP 6
May 2016 #159This was an application for permission to appeal against a decision of District Judge Mort authorising the revocation of an enduring power of attorney (EPA) in respect of the property and affairs of K.
K executed the EPA on 17 July 2007 appointing his two children (the attorneys) to be his attorneys with general authority to act on his behalf in relation to his property and affairs.
On 2 May 2013, the attorneys applied to the Office of the Public Guardian to register the EPA. This application was not opposed and the EPA was duly registered on 18 June 2013. However, by March...
PJV v Assistant Director [2016] EWCOP 7
May 2016 #159This judgment was supplemental to an earlier judgment of Charles J in this case delivered last year ([2015] EWCOP 87). PJV suffered significant cognitive and behaviour problems as a result of non-accidental head injuries he experienced as a baby. His mother made a claim under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (CICS) for an award in respect of this injury. PJV lacked capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to litigation or to accept an award from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). It was determined that the award would be held for PJV on trust as a c...
Re SH [2016] EWCOP 2
May 2016 #159SH, who was aged 93, lived with her granddaughter, FJ, in Walthamstow. She had three sons, two of whom, RL and KLC, also lived in London. In April 2002, RL paid the entire purchase price for his mother’s flat and, by a trust deed, SH acknowledged that he was the beneficial owner subject to her right to live there for as long as she wished on payment of all outgoings. Six years later, on 23 April 2008, SH made two lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), one for property and affairs and one for personal welfare, whereby she appointed RL to be her sole attorney. Subsequently, on 17 July 20...
Re H [2015] EWCOP 52
April 2016 #158H, who was stillborn, was diagnosed as autistic and had poor cognitive functioning and adaptive skills, almost unintelligible speech and limited communicative ability. An only child, now aged 26 years, she lived with her parents, F and M. On 6 August 2014 they applied to be appointed jointly and severally as H’s deputies for property and affairs and personal welfare. At the same time, they applied for the appointment of three successive deputies – A, B and C, all of whom were younger, female (two of them maternal aunts) and well known to H. On 6 January 2015 an order was made, on t...
Ross v A [2015] EWCOP 46
April 2016 #158A, who was 18 years old, had received £5,000,000 in settlement of a claim for clinical negligence which had left her with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, cortical blindness, severe intellectual impairment and extreme behavioural problems. She lived at home with her parents and siblings. A professional with 25 years’ experience, David Ross of Simpson Millar, Solicitors, was appointed by the Court of Protection as deputy for her property and affairs. B, who was A’s brother, had not progressed at primary school as well as he could have during the build up to the trial in the High Cour...
Re WP [2015] EWCOP 84
April 2016 #158The applicants (the attorneys) were joint attorneys of their parents WP (who had died in 2015) and EP (the parents) under enduring powers of attorney (EPAs). There was a further sibling, S, who was not an attorney. The EPAs were registered in October 2009. The parents had joint income in 2014/15 of £29,077 and expenditure of £21,256. This expenditure included unauthorised payments of £150 per month to each one of their children. Their sister S instigated an investigation by the Office of the Public Guardian, and the Public Guardian requested that the attorneys seek retrospective approval...
Re SF [2015] EWCOP 68
March 2016 #157Sheila was born on 8 April 1928. She and her husband retired to Powys in the late 1980s. Ronald died in 1998. Sheila’s health began to deteriorate. For many years she resided in a care home, but moved to a nursing home in Herefordshire in 2013 due to her increased care needs. She had one son, Martin, who was retired.
In 2004, Sheila signed an EPA appointing Martin to be her sole attorney. On 9 July 2009, Martin applied to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) to register the EPA, having given notice of his intention to do so to Sheila and her four brothers. There were no o...
Re H [2015] EWCOP 52
December 2015 #155This was an application to appoint successive deputies for a young woman aged 26, ‘H’. Section 19(5) Mental Capacity Act authorises the appointment of successive deputies.
H was an only child and lived with her parents F and M, both of whom were in their 50s. H was diagnosed autistic when she was five, and her cognitive function and adaptive skills were in the extremely low range. She had very limited communication skills.
In August 2014, her parents applied to be joint and several deputies for property and affairs and personal welfare. They also applie...
Re Paw [2015] EWCOP 57
December 2015 #155This was the application by ARW for an order appointing himself and two others, SJ and BQ, jointly to be deputies for property and financial affairs of his wife PAW who was unable to make decisions relating to her property. SJ and BQ were relatives of PAW who were close to her. ARW’s health had deteriorated since the application had been made and he was suffering from dementia.
The application was opposed by IW, one of ARW and PAW’s sons. IW objected to ARW being a deputy on the basis that he could not remember continuity of facts. IW objected to SJ on the basis sh...