What is a deputyship?
A deputyship is a Court of Protection order appointing someone to make decisions for a person who has already lost capacity and has no valid power of attorney. It is slower, costlier and more heavily supervised than an LPA, with annual reporting and a security bond required.
Property and affairs deputyships are relatively common. Personal welfare deputyships are rare — the court prefers to decide welfare matters itself, one at a time.
The costs are ongoing rather than one-off: an application fee, a bond premium, an annual supervision fee, and often professional fees where a solicitor acts. Applications routinely take many months, during which the person's accounts may be frozen and bills unpaid.
Everything about a deputyship is an argument for making an LPA. It exists because someone did not.