Property and affairs: supplemental provisions
Mental Capacity Bill
3:45 pm

Mr David Lammy (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Tottenham, Labour)

I beg to move amendment No. 115, in schedule 2, page 39, line 31, at end insert

', and

(d) must be sealed with the official seal of the Court of Protection'.

Mr Alan Hurst (Braintree, Labour)

With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendment No. 111.

Mr David Lammy (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Tottenham, Labour)

The amendments will ensure that the protection against fraud offered by an official court seal is continued under the Bill. Schedule 2 makes provision similar to that in the Mental Health Act 1983 dealing with the making of statutory will or codicils by the court. Amendment No. 115 to schedule 2 replicates section 97(1)(c) of that Act. The seal is placed on the will only once it has been executed and attested. The presence of the seal avoids the probate registrar having to check that the will is in the same form as the draft initialled by the court. The seal confirms the document's authenticity.

Clause 43 makes provision for the establishment of the new Court of Protection. Amendment No. 111 to clause 43 will ensure that there is no doubt that the Court of Protection has an official seal, as does the present Court of Protection. The benefit of a court seal is that it provides authentication as to the originality of a document. It helps prevent fraud, and it reassures financial institutions that they are dealing with the right person.

Amendment agreed to.

Schedule 2, as amended, agreed to.