Money held for deceased appointeeship and deputyship clients
Case reference FOI2026/02177
Received 11 September 2026
Published 9 October 2026
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide figures for money still held by your council, or by a provider delivering the council's appointeeship or deputyship service, for deceased adult clients whose finances were managed before their death. Please route this request to the team responsible for DWP appointeeship and Court of Protection property and financial affairs deputyship, with Finance input where needed for client-account balances.
1. As at 31 August 2026, how many deceased people had a positive combined balance across their accounts, and what was the total amount held for them (£)? Please provide the overall count and amount, and break both figures down by time since death:
- Less than 6 months;
-6 to less than 12 months;
- 12 to less than 24 months;
- 24 to less than 60 months;
- 60 to less than 120 months;
- 120 months or more;
- Death date missing or insufficient to assign a band.
For this table: - Include bank deposits, credited interest, and pooled/suspense accounts, regardless of case status, including closed cases. Exclude non-cash assets and debt receivables. Do not subtract charges that have not already been debited from client funds. - Count each person and their money once across all accounts, appointeeship and deputyship services, and bank/ledger records.
If only account or case counts can be supplied, please identify the unit used. - Measure elapsed calendar months from the recorded date of death to the balance date. If figures as at 31 August 2026 cannot be extracted from held records, please use the most recent available snapshot and state its date. Please use the same snapshot date for both balances and time-since-death bands. Exclude cases where financial management began only after death, such as public health funeral cases.
2. Please identify the service/provider and provide figures for your council's clients. If only a combined shared-service total can be supplied, please name the councils covered. Please include information held on your council's behalf by providers or another council. State any coverage limitations, including whether balances held through commissioned services are fully, partly, or not included. If section 12 applies, please explain the cost estimate and advise, under section 16, how the request could be narrowed while retaining counts and amounts by time since death.
Response
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide figures for money still held by your council, or by a provider delivering the council's appointeeship or deputyship service, for deceased adult clients whose finances were managed before their death.
Please route this request to the team responsible for DWP appointeeship and Court of Protection property and financial affairs deputyship, with Finance input where needed for client-account balances.
1. As at 31 August 2026, how many deceased people had a positive combined balance across their accounts, and what was the total amount held for them (£)?
Please provide the overall count and amount, and break both figures down by time since death:
- Less than 6 months;
- 6 to less than 12 months;
- 12 to less than 24 months;
- 24 to less than 60 months;
- 60 to less than 120 months;
- 120 months or more;
- Death date missing or insufficient to assign a band.
For this table:
- Include bank deposits, credited interest, and pooled/suspense accounts, regardless of case status, including closed cases. Exclude non-cash assets and debt receivables. Do not subtract charges that have not already been debited from client funds.
- Count each person and their money once across all accounts, appointeeship and deputyship services, and bank/ledger records. If only account or case counts can be supplied, please identify the unit used.
- Measure elapsed calendar months from the recorded date of death to the balance date. If figures as at 31 August 2026 cannot be extracted from held records, please use the most recent available snapshot and state its date. Please use the same snapshot date for both balances and time-since-death bands.
Exclude cases where financial management began only after death, such as public health funeral cases.
Answer: Please see the table below.
There are 25 deceased clients, and the balances are broken down as follows:
|
6 months - |
97,130.66 |
|
7 month to 1 year - |
£ 10,417.49 |
|
1-2 years |
27,533.81 |
|
2-5 years |
108,533.38 |
|
5-10 years |
7,779.69 |
2. Please identify the service/provider and provide figures for your council's clients. If only a combined shared-service total can be supplied, please name the councils covered.
Answer: Not applicable as the appointeeship or deputyship service is provided by Herefordshire Council.
Please include information held on your council's behalf by providers or another council. State any coverage limitations, including whether balances held through commissioned services are fully, partly, or not included.
If section 12 applies, please explain the cost estimate and advise, under section 16, how the request could be narrowed while retaining counts and amounts by time since death.
Documents
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