Court of Protection fees and costs

If we are making an application to the Court of Protection we will ask the Court to order that the costs of the application should be paid from the client’s funds. The application will request the Court to order that the costs can be agreed or in default of agreement that the file should be submitted to the Senior Court Costs Office to determine the costs.

Ongoing costs of the deputyship administration

Once a solicitor from this firm has been appointed as deputy our file will be submitted to the Senior Court Costs Office (SCCO) annually following the end of the deputyship year. Our file will be accompanied by a detailed bill prepared by an external costs draughtsman detailing all of the work undertaken in the course of that deputyship year based on the hourly rates claimed i.e. the Court guideline figures.

A Senior Court Costs Officer will then determine what it is reasonable and proportionate for us to charge. The Senior Court Costs Officer will also be aware of the extent of the client’s assets and income in order to make that determination.

In the course of the deputyship year the Court allows us to take three quarterly invoices based on the amount of work undertaken in that period and a final bill.  The quarterly bills are discounted when they are raised in order to take account of the possibility that the SCCO may not allow all the time recorded on the file when the file is reviewed at the end of the deputyship year. If the SCCO allow the discounted time it will be included in the final bill once the SCCO has completed its review.

The SCCO’s annual review of the file ensures that the client is protected and charged appropriately for the work undertaken by the professional deputy.

Other Court of Protection fees

In addition to solicitor’s fees, there will also be fees payable to the Court of Protection. The latest Court of Protection fees can be found on the GOV.UK website.