Court of Protection

The Court of Protection deals with vulnerable adults who lack capacity and are unable to make decisions about their health, welfare or finances for themselves. Issues can arise in a variety of areas, including

• Mental health and capacity issues,
• Deprivation of liberty,
• Welfare and medical disputes,
• Financial disputes including divorce and civil claims as well as alleged financial abuse and disputes as to general spending on behalf of vulnerable adults,
• Powers of attorney,
• Wills and trusts,
• Housing disputes, and
• Family matters, including disputes as to where a vulnerable adult should live and alleged abuse by family members.

Where there is disagreement about how a local authority discharges its community care functions, the appropriate redress is by Judicial Review in the High Court. This can include;

• Disputes as to the local authority’s assessment of need, and
• Disputes as to the services put into place to meet that need.

Magadalen Chambers offers a broad service to meet the needs of vulnerable adults, their families and local authorities, offering a wide variety of advocates from junior counsel through to Queen’s Counsel.

We are a leading family law and civil set in the South West offering a depth of expertise and experience in traditional family law areas – dealing with divorce and children – as well as the full range of civil proceedings and so are ideally placed to work on all applications concerning vulnerable adults drawing on our expertise in other ‘best interests’ jurisdictions as well as the wider civil context. Members of chambers have decades of experience dealing with sensitive family matters and financial issues and can offer an approachable and considerate service in this difficult area of law.

Recent cases of interest that members of chambers have been involved in include:

• Consideration of the overlapping jurisdictions of the Court of Protection and Children Act 1989 for young people soon to reach majority but who lack capacity,
• The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards since Cheshire West,
• Judicial Review of a care package offered by a local authority,
• Issues of disclosure of sensitive material relating to a vulnerable adult,
• Contact between vulnerable adults and their family,
• Alleged financial and physical abuse by a family member of a vulnerable adult who had capacity

Members of chambers advise and represent:

• Local authorities
• Family members
• Social landlords
• Health care professionals
• Vulnerable adults via the official Solicitor
• CAFCASS

Members of chambers regularly present seminars on adult social care and the work of the Court of Protection and if you are interested in arranging or attending a seminar please contact Lisa Glithero on 01392 208484.