Does a "respondent" have to respond to a request for a deputy for the Court of Protection

[Jethro_uk]

Sorry about clunky title - couldn't precis it anymore as I have no idea
about any of this...

TL;DR is if someone receives a request from a solicitor to complete a
COP15 form as "respondent" for the court of protection to appoint a
deputy, is there any *legal* obligation to actually reply/respond.

If that someone deliberately ignores the letter what is the worst that
can happen (apart from harassment by the would-be deputy) ?

[Roger Hayter]

Post by Jethro_uk
Sorry about clunky title - couldn't precis it anymore as I have no idea
about any of this...
TL;DR is if someone receives a request from a solicitor to complete a
COP15 form as "respondent" for the court of protection to appoint a
deputy, is there any *legal* obligation to actually reply/respond.
If that someone deliberately ignores the letter what is the worst that
can happen (apart from harassment by the would-be deputy) ?

I have looked at the relevant details of COP15. The person who has to fill it
in is the person who is making the application to be deputy or for one to be
appointed. And it is compulsory they inform the peron for whom they want a
deputy and others (usually relatives) with an interest. So the only people who
will be asked to fill in COP15 are people who are taking legal action and they
do have to fill it in.

Are you talking about *receiving* a COP15 form from a solicitor? If you do,
you can certainly ignore it, but if you want to oppose or modify the
deputyship order then then you have to fill in the COP5 form enclosed and send
it back.

They would probably like you to fill in COP5 just as an acknowledgment so they
can prove to the court that they have informed you. But AFAICS you have no
obligation to do so if you don't feel like it. It seems to be harmless and
helpful to acknowledge receipt, though, so I don't see why anyone should not
want to. They can always ask the solicitor for an SAE if they don't want to
pay for the stamp.

[Jethro_uk]

Post by Roger Hayter

Post by Jethro_uk
Sorry about clunky title - couldn't precis it anymore as I have no idea
about any of this...
TL;DR is if someone receives a request from a solicitor to complete a
COP15 form as "respondent" for the court of protection to appoint a
deputy, is there any *legal* obligation to actually reply/respond.
If that someone deliberately ignores the letter what is the worst that
can happen (apart from harassment by the would-be deputy) ?

I have looked at the relevant details of COP15. The person who has to
fill it in is the person who is making the application to be deputy or
for one to be appointed. And it is compulsory they inform the peron for
whom they want a deputy and others (usually relatives) with an interest.
So the only people who will be asked to fill in COP15 are people who are
taking legal action and they do have to fill it in.
Are you talking about *receiving* a COP15 form from a solicitor? If you
do, you can certainly ignore it, but if you want to oppose or modify the
deputyship order then then you have to fill in the COP5 form enclosed
and send it back.
They would probably like you to fill in COP5 just as an acknowledgment
so they can prove to the court that they have informed you. But AFAICS
you have no obligation to do so if you don't feel like it. It seems to
be harmless and helpful to acknowledge receipt, though, so I don't see
why anyone should not want to. They can always ask the solicitor for an
SAE if they don't want to pay for the stamp.

Many thanks for that.

The letter is saying that someone is applying to be a deputy and the
recipient (who is long estranged from all parties involved) should
complete the form to indicated agreement or otherwise.

Due to the estrangement, the recipient would very much be inclined to
ignore it - they have less than no interest in making the would-be
deputies life any easier for personal reasons (hence the estrangement).
However they also want to be sure there is no sneaky hidden legal
compulsion to act buried in the tomes of law. The letter doesn't mention
any such obligation - it's just (badly) written as if you have to reply.

If they do ignore it, and the proposed deputy cannot find 3 respondents,
I would be curious as to what happens next.

[Roger Hayter]

Post by Jethro_uk

Post by Roger Hayter

Post by Jethro_uk
Sorry about clunky title - couldn't precis it anymore as I have no idea
about any of this...
TL;DR is if someone receives a request from a solicitor to complete a
COP15 form as "respondent" for the court of protection to appoint a
deputy, is there any *legal* obligation to actually reply/respond.
If that someone deliberately ignores the letter what is the worst that
can happen (apart from harassment by the would-be deputy) ?

I have looked at the relevant details of COP15. The person who has to
fill it in is the person who is making the application to be deputy or
for one to be appointed. And it is compulsory they inform the peron for
whom they want a deputy and others (usually relatives) with an interest.
So the only people who will be asked to fill in COP15 are people who are
taking legal action and they do have to fill it in.
Are you talking about *receiving* a COP15 form from a solicitor? If you
do, you can certainly ignore it, but if you want to oppose or modify the
deputyship order then then you have to fill in the COP5 form enclosed
and send it back.
They would probably like you to fill in COP5 just as an acknowledgment
so they can prove to the court that they have informed you. But AFAICS
you have no obligation to do so if you don't feel like it. It seems to
be harmless and helpful to acknowledge receipt, though, so I don't see
why anyone should not want to. They can always ask the solicitor for an
SAE if they don't want to pay for the stamp.

Many thanks for that.
The letter is saying that someone is applying to be a deputy and the
recipient (who is long estranged from all parties involved) should
complete the form to indicated agreement or otherwise.
Due to the estrangement, the recipient would very much be inclined to
ignore it - they have less than no interest in making the would-be
deputies life any easier for personal reasons (hence the estrangement).
However they also want to be sure there is no sneaky hidden legal
compulsion to act buried in the tomes of law. The letter doesn't mention
any such obligation - it's just (badly) written as if you have to reply.
If they do ignore it, and the proposed deputy cannot find 3 respondents,
I would be curious as to what happens next.

Presumably they'll have to have a (rather expensive) hearing and the judge
will decide what to do, hopefully with medical and social work expert advice.
If no-one else applies to be deputy the judge can decide whether the person
can manage their own affairs, the applicant should be deputy or a professional
deputy (very expensive) should be appointed.

[Jethro_uk]

Post by Roger Hayter

Post by Jethro_uk

Post by Roger Hayter

Post by Jethro_uk
Sorry about clunky title - couldn't precis it anymore as I have no
idea about any of this...
TL;DR is if someone receives a request from a solicitor to complete a
COP15 form as "respondent" for the court of protection to appoint a
deputy, is there any *legal* obligation to actually reply/respond.
If that someone deliberately ignores the letter what is the worst
that can happen (apart from harassment by the would-be deputy) ?

I have looked at the relevant details of COP15. The person who has to
fill it in is the person who is making the application to be deputy or
for one to be appointed. And it is compulsory they inform the peron
for whom they want a deputy and others (usually relatives) with an
interest.
So the only people who will be asked to fill in COP15 are people who
are taking legal action and they do have to fill it in.
Are you talking about *receiving* a COP15 form from a solicitor? If
you do, you can certainly ignore it, but if you want to oppose or
modify the deputyship order then then you have to fill in the COP5
form enclosed and send it back.
They would probably like you to fill in COP5 just as an acknowledgment
so they can prove to the court that they have informed you. But AFAICS
you have no obligation to do so if you don't feel like it. It seems to
be harmless and helpful to acknowledge receipt, though, so I don't see
why anyone should not want to. They can always ask the solicitor for
an SAE if they don't want to pay for the stamp.

Many thanks for that.
The letter is saying that someone is applying to be a deputy and the
recipient (who is long estranged from all parties involved) should
complete the form to indicated agreement or otherwise.
Due to the estrangement, the recipient would very much be inclined to
ignore it - they have less than no interest in making the would-be
deputies life any easier for personal reasons (hence the estrangement).
However they also want to be sure there is no sneaky hidden legal
compulsion to act buried in the tomes of law. The letter doesn't
mention any such obligation - it's just (badly) written as if you have
to reply.
If they do ignore it, and the proposed deputy cannot find 3
respondents,
I would be curious as to what happens next.

Presumably they'll have to have a (rather expensive) hearing and the
judge will decide what to do, hopefully with medical and social work
expert advice. If no-one else applies to be deputy the judge can decide
whether the person can manage their own affairs, the applicant should be
deputy or a professional deputy (very expensive) should be appointed.

I have (finally) seen the letter.

It does say - tucked away at the back - that no acknowledgement is
treated as a positive response, but may cause delays to the case.

So all is clear and answered now.

Mind you, having seen the letter, I hope no one paid anything for it.
There are 5 major mistakes of grammar that make it ambiguous if not
incomprehensible. (ChatGPT spotted all of them, by the way).

Many thanks for your replies and have a great (rest of) weekend.