Sam Chandler successfully appears for PennTrust Limited.

Sam Chandler successfully appears for PennTrust Limited in the case of PennTrust v West Berkshire District Council and the Public Guardian [2020] EWCOP 48, which concerned the fixed costs regime in the Court of Protection. Judgment was handed down by Senior Judge Hilder on 28 September 2020.

The case, which follows the Senior Judge’s decision in the case of London Borough of Enfield v Matrix [2018] EWCOP 22 addresses the fixed costs regime in Practice Direction 19B of the Court of Protection Rules 2017 (the “2017 Rules”), and the entitlement of a professional property and affairs deputy to recover assessed (rather than fixed) costs.

Most notably, the decision considers (1) the proper construction and application of Practice Direction 19B in the 2017 Rules; specifically whether “net assets” for the purposes of the £16,000 threshold at paragraph 12 includes real property occupied by P (contrasting the old version of PD19B); (2) the correct approach to standard wording in deputyship orders entitling a professional deputy to SCCO assessment “if preferred”, where P’s assets are below the £16,000 threshold as at the date of appointment.

A copy of the judgment can be found here: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCOP/2020/48.html.