If you are a deputy or an attorney you may receive a telephone call from a Court of Protection Visitor asking to arrange an assurance visit. This may send you into a panic, after all for those who don't work in the law every day this would be no different to the Judge themselves visiting!
You do not need to panic though. The Visitors are just human beings and are there to help you.
The Visitor is a member of the Court of Protection team. They help the Court in making sure that deputies and attorneys are looking after the affairs of those they are appointed to look after. The Visitors help with supervising and supporting the Court. A Visitor will only want to talk to you about one person, the person you have been appointed to look after.
Their visits are not short. They can take three hours to complete but this is because they go into detail about how things are managed. A Visitor will look at how often you see the person you look after, whether you speak to others about their needs and will make sure that you have accountability for decisions you make. They will want to make sure that you have informed everyone you need to about the existence of the deputyship order or power of attorney. They will make sure that you are aware of the benefits the individual you look should receive and may ask to look at insurance paperwork, details of investments, bank statements, contracts, invoices and other paperwork to document your actions.
A Visitor will ask about past decisions and future plans for the individual you look after. This is to make sure you are considering their best interests and have some structure to the way in which you manage your appointment.
The Visitor will not just want to meet you. They will want to see the individual you are looking after as well. This is to find out about them and to gain insight from their perspective into how they are being looked after.
If you are lucky enough to meet a Visitor use it as an opportunity to extract nuggets of wisdom from them about how to do things, how to record decisions and to gain an insight into what the Court of Protection are looking for from their attorneys and deputies.
If you have any worries or concerns about how your appointment as attorney or deputy is going we are experts in this field. We would be happy to talk to you about any issues you face and help as much as you need. Please call us on 01622 843729.
