Collection

OPG Deputy Standards documents

OPG’s standards for lay deputies, public authority deputies and professional deputies and guidance to advise on how they can meet those standards.

Assurance visits and deputy standards form an important part of the Office of the Public Guardian’s (OPG) approach to supporting and supervising professional and public authority deputies.

Court of Protection visitors conducting assurance visits will refer to the published deputy standards when reporting findings and observations to OPG.

These documents are also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

Deputy Standards

These standards set out what is expected of lay, public authority and professional court appointed deputies and form a central part of OPG’s approach to supervising all three types of deputies.

Lay deputies

Lay deputies are usually friends or family members of the person who lacks capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Public authority deputies

If no family member is available, willing, or able to act as a deputy, the court may appoint a local authority or health body as a deputy; these are referred to as public authority deputies.

Professional deputies

Professional deputies are usually appointed when there is no family member available or willing to act as a deputy and there are more complex issues to manage.

Reference documents

Updates to this page

Published 13 February 2023