Deputyship fees for a client's family: £432 to apply, £100 assessment and £320 or £35 a year, worked for the first three years

A relative has lost the capacity to manage money and there is no registered lasting power of attorney. The family asks the firm what applying to the Court of Protection to become a deputy will cost, before anyone mentions legal fees. The court and supervision fees are fixed, so they can be added up in advance.

What GOV.UK says

The GOV.UK fees page I read lists:

• Application fee: £432. You pay it twice if you apply to be both types of deputy.
• Hearing fee: £266, payable only if the court decides the case needs a hearing.
• Assessment fee: £100, for new deputies.
• Annual supervision fee: £320 for general supervision, or £35 for minimal supervision, which applies to some property and affairs deputies managing less than £21,000.
• Security bond: no fixed amount; it depends on the value of the person's estate and how much of it the deputy controls.
• The application fee can be refunded if the person dies within 5 days of the court receiving the application.
• If the person dies, supervision is charged only for the part of the year the deputy acted. GOV.UK's example is £17.50 for a minimal supervision deputyship that ends after 6 months.
• You can apply for an exemption or reduction of the supervision fee if the person receives certain benefits or has an income below £12,000.

The separate "apply for deputyship" page says only that an application fee is payable and links to the fees page.

The sums

Year one for a single new property and affairs deputy, with the assessment fee and a full year of supervision. I have assumed the first year's supervision fee is charged as an annual fee; the page does not say when the first one falls due.

Over three years, with no hearing and two further annual supervision fees:

• General: £852 + 2 x £320 = £1,492
• Minimal: £567 + 2 x £35 = £637
• Difference: £1,492 - £637 = £855

The one-off fees (application and assessment) are £532, which is £532 / £852 = 62.4% of the general-supervision first year. A £320 annual fee is 9.1 times the £35 one (£320 / £35 = 9.14), so which level applies matters more over time than the hearing fee.

If the person died after six months under general supervision, the supervision share would be £320 / 2 = £160, by the same part-year logic as GOV.UK's £17.50 example. That is my arithmetic, not a figure on the page.

Putting it into practice

• Tell the family the fixed fees first and note them on the file. See what a client care letter should cover for a new matter.
• Check whether an LPA would have been cheaper. The one-off registration fee is set out in lasting power of attorney registration fees, worked for a couple.
• Ask about benefits and income early, because the exemption or reduction on supervision depends on them.
• Count the hours that fee quotes, forms and reminders take using the admin scorecard for a small firm.

What I did not read

I did not read the Court of Protection or Office of the Public Guardian guidance on how a deputy's own costs are set, or any rules on the security bond amount. The fees page gave no annual management fee limits. I did not check the legislation behind the fees or whether the figures change after today. Read the current GOV.UK page before you quote.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join your firm's team, draft the fee schedule for each deputyship enquiry, track the dates for refunds and part-year supervision, and prepare the client letter, with a person approving it before it goes out.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current GOV.UK pages and your own obligations for each client.