Managing Someone Else’s Finances

Page updated on: 03/01/2025

You may need to manage someone else's finances because of:

  • illness or disability, either temporarily or on a long-term basis

  • the inability to make decisions, because of mental illness or other reasons

No one can manage another person’s finances without their consent.

If a person has capacity and wishes to nominate someone else to manage their finances before they lose the mental ability to do so themselves, there are a couple of options available - Appointeeship and Lasting Power of Attorney (more information below). 

If the person has already lost capacity, then in some circumstances a Deputy will need to be appointed by the Court of Protection.

If the person does not have significant sums of money in the bank/building society/premium bonds etc, and all that is really needed is someone to manage their state pension/benefits the Department of Work and Pensions is willing to allow someone to act as an appointee on their behalf. The appointee merely collects and administers that person’s benefits; it does not give the appointee the authority to manage all aspects of the other person’s finances. For more information about appointeeship see

gov.uk

To enable somebody to act on your behalf to manage your finances, either now, or in the future, you may wish to appoint a trusted person as a lasting Power of Attorney (for Property and Finances).  

The UK Government has a website which gives further guidance about how to make a lasting power of attorney. 

gov.uk

There will be times where a person who previously managed their own finances now lacks the mental ability to do so.

If a person has enough monies in the bank/building society/premium bonds or property etc. and it is necessary for someone to be able to access these funds and their income, such as benefits and pensions etc. (e.g. to pay bills), then it may be possible to apply to a court (called the Court of Protection) to be appointed Deputy to manage the other person’s financial affairs.

A person can only be appointed Deputy for someone else’s property if that person now lacks the mental ability to manage their financial and property affairs themselves.

A deputy also cannot be appointed if a person has already made a valid lasting power of attorney, as described above, or an enduring power of attorney. 

It must also be considered in the person’s best interest for an application for deputyship to be made.

If a person does not need to have continued involvement in a person’s finances, for example the only asset that they have is a property and its needs to be sold, a deputyship application might not be appropriate. In such circumstances it is possible to ask the Court of Protection for an order authorising the sale instead. The same would apply if someone needs authority to terminate a tenancy.

The Court of Protection always prefers family members or friends to apply for Deputyship. Sometimes the idea of applying to the Court can be quite worrying. The first thing to say is that as a family member or friend it is extremely unlikely that you will have to attend court. Most of these types of applications are made without you ever seeing a judge. There are some forms to complete to apply, and as a family member we appreciate that this can be time consuming and sometimes the forms are not that easy to complete. As a result, our social services audit and compliance team will help you complete the forms and make sure the right forms go into the court.

Another concern for families and friends is that there is court fee for making an application and it is quite a lot of money. The problem is that to access the person’s bank account you need to be deputy, but you can’t be deputy unless you pay the court fee.

As a local authority we can offer help to families by making a loan available to pay for the court fee. The family member applying is loaned the money and only pays it back

  • once the deputyship order is made, or
  • the family member decides not to pursue the application further, or
  • where the local authority demands repayment.

If the loan is not repaid within 30 days of becoming due the local authority will charge interest.

The local authority will only offer a loan if certain conditions are met:

  • The person who needs their finances and/ or property managed lacks mental capacity to manage their own finances;
  • The person has not made a valid power of attorney giving someone else authority to manage their finances;
  • The person who can no longer manage their finances has enough money to justify an application for deputyship being made (the local authority will decide whether there is enough money);
  • The person who can no longer manage their finances and/or property must be receiving care and support from the local authority, through a care and support plan.
  • The local authority considers you appropriate to make an application for deputyship; for example, a local authority would not normally consider someone who has criminal convictions for theft as appropriate.
  • It is considered in the person’s best interest for a deputyship application to be made.
  • There is enough evidence that you lack the financial resources to pay the court fee yourself without receiving a loan from the local authority.
  • You enter into a loan agreement with the local authority, a copy of which is available.

If you would like more details on how we can support you to apply for Deputyship please contact the Audit and Compliance Team by phone 01267 228850, or by email SCHDirectpayments@carmarthenshire.gov.uk