header-logo header-logo

For the best?

17 January 2014 / Russell Caller
Issue: 7590 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
printer mail-detail
web_caller

Is mediation the key to solving MCA 2005 “best interests” disputes, asks Russell Caller

Who hasn’t taken on a seemingly straight-forward deputyship, only to find along the way that formerly disinterested family members are suddenly experts on what’s in their incapacitated relative’s “best interests”?

Let’s face it—human nature dictates that inter-family disputes or disagreements between family members and the court appointed decision-maker—are just part of the daily grind of a professional deputy. If a local authority is involved, then add in a liberal sprinkling of resource agendas and service provision goals. As the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) Code of Practice obliges us to always act in our client’s best interests, we are consequently duty bound to tease out and weigh up this jumble of competing evidence and heavily-charged views. Sometimes the best we can hope for is a complicated and arduous journey to reach that “best interests” decision—at worst we find ourselves embroiled in entrenched stalemate.

The right approach?

Now it’s true that the Code of Practice contains numerous suggestions on how

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
back-to-top-scroll