Financial Management for Adults with Disabilities: Navigating Legal Challenges and Accessing Funds

There are many issues which parents of children who lack capacity need to deal with, especially as they reach adulthood.  Parents often find that bank accounts which were set up for their children have to lie dormant as they have no legal authority to access the account and properly manage the funds.  In recent years, as Child Trust Funds have reached maturity, the same problems have arisen.

Where an adult lacks mental capacity, the current system means that to access their funds and to manage them requires an application to the Court of Protection.  This is often considered to be disproportionately expensive and time consuming, although there can be benefits in making such an application.  It had been hoped that the Ministry of Justice would apply a limit below which such an application was not required.  The government carried out a consultation in 2021/22 which arose mainly out of the difficulties which parents experienced in trying to access their children’s Child Trust Fund.  The proposal was that withdrawals of up to £2,500 would not require permission from the Court of Protection.  Although most of the responses supported this idea, there was not agreement on how it could be achieved.  Concern was rightly expressed that in the absence of protections, an incapable adult could be at risk of financial abuse.

Accordingly, if you are supporting an adult who lacks capacity, it will be necessary to apply to the Court of Protection for the proper authority to deal with their finances.