The Court of Protection (Enduring Powers of Attorney) Rules 1994

Functions of the Public Trustee

6.—(1) The Public Trustee may exercise the following functions—

(a) the registration of an enduring power of attorney under section 6(1) of the Act;

(b) the refusal to register an enduring power of attorney under section 6(2) of the Act on the grounds that the conditions set out in section 2(1) of the Act are not satisfied or that it is not an enduring power of attorney by reason of sections 2(7), (8) or 11(1) of the Act;

(c) cancelling the registration of an enduring power of attorney revoked under section 2(10) of the Act;

(d) the giving of a direction under section 6(3) of the Act;

(e) the qualification of the registration of an enduring power of attorney under section 11(6) or (7) of the Act;

(f) dispensing with the requirement to give notice under paragraphs 3(2), 4(2) or 7(1) of Schedule 1 to the Act;

(g) the receiving of a notice of disclaimer under sections 4(6) and 7(1)(b) of the Act.

(2) The Public Trustee may, if he thinks fit, refer any matter referred to in paragraph (1) above to the court for determination.

(3) If, in the case of an application for registration of an enduring power of attorney, the circumstances set out in section 6(4)(a) (notice of objection received) or (b) (no notice of application given) of the Act occur, or, in the opinion of the Public Trustee, the court should consider the application in the light of section 6(4)(c) (reason to believe that a ground of objection exists) of the Act, he shall refer the application to the court.

(4) Nothing in this rule shall prevent the court from exercising any of its functions in relation to any matter being dealt with by the Public Trustee under paragraph (1).