Court of protection - ex160a form

[Emily M]

Has anyone had experience of filling in the EX160A exemption form?

My mother is in a care home and we are applying for Court of Protection (Property and financial affairs) as she no longer has mental capacity. I was told by the COP that an EX160A exemption form had to be filled in. I will try to explain below starting at the top of the form:-


Application for fee remission

1. About the case

Name of claimant(s)/petitioner(s)/applicant(s)

(Does my mother’s name or my step-father's name go here? I assume it is my step-father's name, as it refers to the person applying on behalf of someone else as "the applicant")

Name of defendant(s)/respondent(s)

(Does my mother’s name go here because I can't see where else it can go if my step-father is named as the claimant/petitioner,applicant?)


2. Your details

(Here I have put my step fathers details (name and address, etc.) based on the paragraph from the explanatory notes below:-


“You need to tell us whether you are applying for remission based on your (the applicant’s) circumstances or the person the application is about. If you are making an application to the Court of Protection on behalf of the other person you can apply for a full or part remission using your own details.”


What doesn’t make sense is that they are asking for his date of birth, etc. One would think my mother’s details should go in here as there is nowhere else on the form that asks for her details. One assumes that it will be looked at in conjunction with the other COP forms and of course there will be a covering letter when it is sent.)


I have never seen a form and explanatory notes that are so ambiguous and poorly written. It is a total hotchpotch that has been designed to cover exemptions for all tribunal hearings, not just Court of Protection. Of course I could spend ages on the phone waiting for the COP to eventually answer or wait days for them to reply to an e-mail, but if anyone can help I would be grateful.

 

[jenniferpa]

I agree that the form is a "one size fits nobody" form. Having said that - have you actually tried calling the COP? Because it might not be as horrendous as you think it will be.

Alternatively you could give the AS helpline a ring http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/faq.php?faq=resources#faq_resources_helpline

Also, my feeling is that your mother's name goes in Section 1, and your father's details go in Section 2. But I'm just winging it here.

 

[lin1]

oops replied to wrong thread. Sorry

 

[Emily M]

I agree that the form is a "one size fits nobody" form. Having said that - have you actually tried calling the COP? Because it might not be as horrendous as you think it will be.

Alternatively you could give the AS helpline a ring http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/faq.php?faq=resources#faq_resources_helpline

Also, my feeling is that your mother's name goes in Section 1, and your father's details go in Section 2. But I'm just winging it here.

Thanks Jennifer

I did phone the COP Office yesterday to check if I was sending the right forms. It took over half an hour for someone to answer the phone which is why I thought I'd try here first. It was Monday morning so maybe it will be better in the afternoon on another day. The man was helpful, but a little vague on certain aspects.

I never thought of ringing the AS helpline, so will try that.

Thanks.

 

[arielsmelody]

If I was filling out the forms, I'd put your step father's name in Section 1 as the applicant and leave the defendant section blank, put his information in Section 2, then in Section 3 I'd put that I was applying based on the circumstances of the person that the application was about - then for the following Sections it's confusing but I would guess you should fill in your mum's financial details since you are asking for the decision to be made on the basis of her financial situation. But please don't take my word for it, that's just my best guess!

 

[Emily M]

Regarding EX160A Citizen's Advice say...............

Thank you for your replies Jennifer and arielsmelody

I phoned the Citizen's Advice Bureau this morning and they were extremely helpful. The general consensus of opinion is mostly the same as we all think. This is what they said:-


Application for a fee remission (EX160A)


1. About the case


Name of claimant(s)/petitioner(s)/applicant(s)

This is my step-father as he is applying on my mother's behalf.


Name of defendant(s)/respondent(s)

They say this is my mother as she is the person the court is defending, i.e., protecting her rights.


2. Your details

The name and address of my step-father goes here (he is applying on behalf of my mother).


3. For Court of Protection cases only

I've ticked the boxes for Property and financial affairs and Remission based on person's circumstances and Yes for Are you the partner of the person?.


Sections 4., 5. and 6.

This is more straightforward as it is based on my mother's income and savings only. My mother's gross monthly income goes in the Partner column and the Applicant column is left blank.

I feel more confident now that the form is filled in correctly. I hope this information will help others. I will post on here again if I find that anything different from what we've agreed needs to go on the form.

Many thanks.

 

[tas213]

court of protection

Hi Emily did they say how long it would take to go through

 

[arielsmelody]

Thank you for your replies Jennifer and arielsmelody

I phoned the Citizen's Advice Bureau this morning and they were extremely helpful. The general consensus of opinion is mostly the same as we all think. This is what they said:-

....


Sections 4., 5. and 6.

This is more straightforward as it is based on my mother's income and savings only. My mother's gross monthly income goes in the Partner column and the Applicant column is left blank.

...

I'm glad you got some help and what you've written seems very sensible. I'm still slightly confused because it's not clear to me where the information regarding your mother would go if someone other than her partner was the applicant - it really should be explained properly in the guidance.

 

[Emily M]

Hi Emily did they say how long it would take to go through

Hello tas

I was told about 3 months, but it can take longer. I hope that our application won't take too long because I think Mum's case is straightforward as there is no existing power of attorney, no will, no house to sell and my mother is in an EMI nursing home so we only need apply for "property and financial affairs." Most of the forms seemed fairly straightforward except the EX160A exemption of fees form.

The information on the gov.uk site takes a bit of reading, but there is quite a lot of free advise on other sites on the internet. I have just found this link that might be quite useful as it gives a brief resume and lists the forms needed.

http://www.guardianwillsandprobate....-protection-the-application-process-explained

 

[Emily M]

I'm glad you got some help and what you've written seems very sensible. I'm still slightly confused because it's not clear to me where the information regarding your mother would go if someone other than her partner was the applicant - it really should be explained properly in the guidance.

You are right, arielsmelody, when you say that it should be explained properly in the guidance. The form is an absolute disgrace. As Jennifer said it is a "one size fits nobody" form that is for all tribunal cases, not just Court of Protection. There are 31 pages and only 2 of these are the form that has to be filled in. The other 29 pages are notes, but it is still as clear as mud! Citizen's Advice were pondering on it for a while. I didn't find the other forms anywhere near as complicated.

I agree that it would be even more confusing if Mum's partner wasn't the applicant. I assume if I was applying on my own I would tick the box for "single person" and tick "no" for "are you the partner of the person?"

Citizen's Advice said that my mother's name goes in "Name of defendant(s)/respondent(s)" because she is the person that the Court is defending in that they are protecting her rights and making sure that she really has lost the mental capacity to make her own decisions, which is what my step-father and I are declaring. In the COP001 Application form, it asks "Full name of person to whom the application relates (this is the name of the person who lacks, or is alleged to lack, capacity)" The use of word "alleged" probably helps explain why my mother is the defendant and the case must be proved in the Court.