Pictured above: Andrew Cusworth
A partner at a Shropshire law firm has been appointed to the
official panel of Professional Deputies of the Court of
Protection.
A Deputy is someone appointed by the Court of Protection to
manage the financial affairs or welfare of a person who lacks the
ability to do so for themselves.
The appointment of Andrew Cusworth, Partner and head of the
Trusts and Estates Department of Linder Myers, which has a
Shropshire office in Shrewsbury High Street, follows an overhaul of
panel deputyships by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), the
administrative arm of the Court of Protection.
The OPG invited applications from all interested parties to be
made before October 2010 and of 604 applications 60 panel deputies
were appointed.
Candidates were warned that the number of places available on
the panel was to be cut from around 250 members to just 60 in total
for England and Wales combined.
The appointment means that the Court of Protection may now call
upon Andrew to act as an independent Deputy for an incapacitated
person, where there is no family member or friend able to act, or
where the circumstances dictate that the person's affairs would be
better dealt with by an independent professional.
Andrew and the other solicitors comprising his team of Court of
Protection specialists act for a large number of clients across the
country who are under the jurisdiction of the Court of Protection,
including sufferers of dementia, cerebral palsy, post traumatic
stress disorder and impact brain injuries.
He said: "The appointment to the panel is not just a personal
appointment, but is in recognition of the hard work and expertise
of all the members of the Court of Protection teams in our
Manchester, Lancashire and Shropshire offices."