The Public Guardian v CT & Anor
2014
COURT OF PROTECTION
United Kingdom
CORAM
- SENIOR JUDGE LUSH
Areas of Law
- Family Law
- Probate and Succession
- Civil Procedure
- Human Rights Law
2014
COURT OF PROTECTION
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
CT, who suffered a stroke in May 2013, executed a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in June 2013, naming his daughter EY as the sole attorney. CT's son objected but the LPA was registered. In July 2014, the Public Guardian applied for directions on CT’s capacity to manage his finances. The court required a joint expert report confirming CT's capacity in various financial matters. EY contested the OPG's investigation and sought costs against them. The court dismissed the application but made no order for costs, attributing some fault to EY's conduct, which had increased the expenses.
JUDGMENT
Senior Judge Lush:
This is the first occasion on which a respondent has sought an order for costs against the Public Guardian in respect of a safeguarding application regarding the respondent’s conduct as the donee of a Lasting Power of Attorney.
The background
CT was born in 1929 and formerly worked for Ford Motors at Dagenham.
He used to live in Hornchurch, Essex. His wife still does.
He has two children:
a son, who was born in 1949 and lives in Suffolk; and
a daughter, EY, who was born in 1960 and lives in Brentwood, Essex.
On 19 May 2013 he suffered a right hemisphere stroke, as a result of which he has left hemiplegia and impaired vision in the left visual field. He was admitted to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, where he was diagnosed as having vascular dementia.
His stroke seems to have precipitated a deep rift within the family, with CT and his daughter aligned on one side, and his wife and son on the other.
On 18 June 2013 CT executed an LPA for property and financial affairs, in which he:
appointed his daughter to be the sole attorney;
appointed Gillian Botwright of Moss & Coleman, Solicitors, Hornchurch, as a replacement attorney; and
named nobody who was to be given notice of an application to register the LPA.
Gerald Barrington of Moss & Coleman Solicitors was one of the two certificate providers who assessed CT’s capacity to create the LPA. The other certificate provider was a fellow freemason who had known CT for over 40 years.
On the same day, 18 June 2013, an application was made to the Office of the Public Guardian (‘OPG’) to register the LPA.
On 21 June 2013 CT’s son completed an application form objecting to the registration, but, because he was not a named person, he was not entitled to object and the OPG registered the LPA on 2 August 2013.
In October 2013 CT was transferred to King George’s Hospital, Goodmayes, where he remained until 18 November 2013, when he moved in with his daughter and her partner.
The application
On 16 July 2014 the Public Guardian applied for the following order:
“An application is made under section 48 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for directions relating to CT’s mental capacity to make decisions in relation to his finances and property.”
Section 48 of the Act is headed “Interim orders and directions” and provides that:
“The court may, pending the determination of an application in relation to a person (“P”), make an order or give directions in respect of any matter if-
there is