Appendix 3 S.I. 2004/1291: memorandum
from the Department for Constitutional Affairs
Court of Protection (Amendment) Rules 2004 (S.I. 2004/1291)
1. The Committee has asked the Department for Constitutional
Affairs to submit a memorandum on the following point:
Explain the reason for the 20% fee increase imposed
by paragraph (7), and the 100% fee increases imposed by paragraphs
(6) and (8), of rule 10.
2. The transaction fee payable on applications for
orders under section 100 of the Mental Health Act 1983 will increase
from £50.00 to £60.00 (by virtue of rule 10(8)). The
fee has stayed at £50.00 since 1982 and, at that level, is
not sufficient to meet the cost of providing the service. Taken
over 22 years, the increase is below the rate of inflation. The
impact on the income of the court will be minimal as there are
less than 100 applications under section 100 per year.
3. The minimum and maximum transaction fee payable
in the special cases defined in rule 79 of the Court of Protection
Rules 2001 will increase from £50.00 to £100.00 and
from £500.00 to £1,000.00 respectively (by virtue of
rules 10(6) and (7)). This fee is payable when the court makes
an order providing for the settlement or gift of a patient's property,
often for the purposes of inheritance tax planning. The work covered
by the fee includes processing the application and, the hearing
of the application by the court. The upper and lower limits for
this fee have stayed at the same rate since 1982. The minimum
fee of £50.00 is not sufficient to meet the cost of the work.
The maximum fee will apply only to transactions with a monetary
value of more than £400,000. Such large transactions can
be complex and may require an attended hearing before the Master
of the Court of Protection. On average there are about 350 applications
each year under this rule, which means only about 2% of clients
will be affected.
2nd June 2004
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