COP FEES EXEMPTION
I am a little angry and upset. I have just had the forms returned from the Court of Protection for our application to become Deputies for financial affairs for my mother. We applied for exemption of fees as we were led to believe that she would receive an exemption because she is in receipt of Pension Credits and living in a nursing home apart of her husband. The form EX160 is extremely ambiguous and I even consulted Citizens Advice on filling this in. I am told that exemption of fees will be based solely on “P’s” details (why could they not just say Partner’s?). I very much doubt that she will receive an exemption as his two pensions are in the region of £17,000 per annum, though over a third of his money goes on rent. This was not made clear to me and it appeared that it would be based on her income only. I think to save time I will get him to pay it and claim it back from her finances when it is granted or reclaim it if she qualifies after all, based on his finances.
What makes me really angry is that they have returned ALL the documents and the application will have to be resubmitted and count as a new application. This seems like a delaying tactics. She owes over 3 months to the home and it is likely to be 6 months by the time this government office deals with it. It is almost as if they are trying to force people to use a solicitor, which is not good if people don’t have much money.
I was wondering:-
• I am thinking of asking them to speed up the process as there is a section on the form for this, though if they refuse will they send back the forms a second time?
• Can I just send off the same forms without changing the date (18 September) if I send them back soon?
• Has anyone else had this kind of experience with COP?
Many thanks for reading this.
I am a little angry and upset. I have just had the forms returned from the Court of Protection for our application to become Deputies for financial affairs for my mother. We applied for exemption of fees as we were led to believe that she would receive an exemption because she is in receipt of Pension Credits and living in a nursing home apart of her husband. The form EX160 is extremely ambiguous and I even consulted Citizens Advice on filling this in. I am told that exemption of fees will be based solely on “P’s” details (why could they not just say Partner’s?). I very much doubt that she will receive an exemption as his two pensions are in the region of £17,000 per annum, though over a third of his money goes on rent. This was not made clear to me and it appeared that it would be based on her income only. I think to save time I will get him to pay it and claim it back from her finances when it is granted or reclaim it if she qualifies after all, based on his finances.
What makes me really angry is that they have returned ALL the documents and the application will have to be resubmitted and count as a new application. This seems like a delaying tactics. She owes over 3 months to the home and it is likely to be 6 months by the time this government office deals with it. It is almost as if they are trying to force people to use a solicitor, which is not good if people don’t have much money.
I was wondering:-
• I am thinking of asking them to speed up the process as there is a section on the form for this, though if they refuse will they send back the forms a second time?
• Can I just send off the same forms without changing the date (18 September) if I send them back soon?
• Has anyone else had this kind of experience with COP?
Many thanks for reading this.