Guidance

Appointment of the Official Solicitor in welfare proceedings: practice note

Guidance for legal professionals about appointing the Official Solicitor in healthcare and personal welfare matters in the Court of Protection.

From:
Official Solicitor and Public Trustee and Ministry of Justice
Published
9 July 2021

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Appointing the Official Solicitor in personal welfare proceedings

ODT, 18.5 KB

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Details

This practice note contains information and guidance around:

  • appointing the Official Solicitor as litigation friend for someone lacking capacity to conduct personal welfare proceedings

  • the proceedings that the Official Solicitor is usually invited to act in, including cases that involve serious medical treatment

  • the Official Solicitor’s criteria for consenting to act as litigation friend

  • how to invite the Official Solicitor to act in these kinds of proceedings

This practice note also contains details of how to contact the Official Solicitor, including out of hours applications relating to urgent medical treatment issues.

Published 9 July 2021