The National Careline Blog
OPG issues guidance for E&W deputies on family care payments
18 March 2025
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has published new guidance on its approach to family care payments made by a Court of Protection deputy in England and Wales on behalf of a person under their supervision.
Family care payments, also known as gratuitous care payments, are made by deputies to relatives of a protected person (P) for informal care such as cooking meals, helping with hygiene, supervising or being a companion, for example. It could extend as far as full-time regular care involving nursing and physiotherapy skills. The OPG accepts that payments to enable such care can be in P’s best interests and that there are cases where a payment can ease the carer’s own financial situation and enable them to continue in their caring role.
However, it stresses that the factors outlined in the new guidance are considered. It sets out the legal framework and the OPG’s view of how deputies should approach such payments, including factors for them to consider when deciding on the amounts.
Care arrangements might justify a family care payment, it says, if there is no contractual relationship between P and the family member involved; the family member is providing the care by way of their natural love and affection for P; there is no job description with formally agreed hours, breaks or holidays; and there is little or no demarcation of work between family members and no one is responsible for securing contractual terms or service delivery. More formal arrangements would not be covered by the guidance, says the OPG.
It cites three England and Wales Court of Protection judgments that give an indication of its approach to family care payments, all from 2015.
