You have made a successful personal injury claim, but how do you protect the compensation awarded to you? A personal injury trust can help you to look after your long-term financial future. This is particularly important if you are receiving means-tested benefits. Personal Injury Trusts and Benefits Currently, if you have capital over £16,000, you…
As we continue to establish our specialism in this area, we are increasingly aware of instances where a deputy, attorney or appointee is thought to not be acting appropriately with an incapable person’s finances. We often hear of, and see, instances where a deputy, attorney or appointee is either not providing enough money for the…
The Court which presides over highly sensitive matters, such as whether serious medical treatment should be given or withheld or resolving disputes over who should act as a deputy or attorney for a vulnerable individual, will become increasingly transparent from 3rd February under new regulations.
The Daily Mail caused controversy amongst Court of Protection practitioners this week when it published an article entitled “secret court in control of a two billion fortune”. The article was, in our opinion, full of half truths and inaccuracies although it did raise an important question in relation to the interest rate currently paid by…
As dementia cases in the UK are set to rise to over a million by 2021, research into the disease is high on the Government’s agenda making lifetime planning critical.
Today, I was reading the May edition of 39 Essex Street Chambers’ excellent Court of Protection Newsletter and noted a recent decision of the Court of Protection which, amongst other things, provides a salutary, but sad, lesson on the importance of obtaining proper legal advice (in this instance, in relation to Living Wills). In An…
When is a deputy appointed? In short, the Court will appoint a deputy if a person (in this theoretical example an elderly relative) loses the capacity to manage their property and affairs and / or make personal welfare decisions. A deputy is usually only appointed should the person who has lost capacity have not made…
Last week the Court of Protection handed down their down judgment in the case of SM –v- HM. The issue before the Court was in what circumstances was it open to the Court of Protection to authorise the settlement of any incapacitated person’s assets as an alternative to a Deputyship? Effectively, could a Court depart…
We routinely act for clients who have elderly relatives who have lost the capacity to manage their own finances and that relative now needs someone to be appointed to look after their finances on their behalf. This situation occurs where that elderly relative has not made either an Enduring Power of Attorney or a Lasting…
As from 1 October 2011, the OPG will be changing their fee structure. The registration fee for Enduring and Lasting Powers of Attorney will rise from £120 to £130. There will be a Repeat Application Fee of £65 each time an Lasting Power of Attorney is resubmitted to the OPG within 3 months of an…
A large number of our Court of Protection clients have acquired brain injuries, through acts of medical negligence, road traffic accidents, criminal injuries or psychological trauma. Not only do we advise our own Personal Injury and Medical Negligence departments on Court of Protection related matters within brain injury compensation claims, we also assist other law…
We are pleased to announce that Andrew Cusworth, Partner and head of the Trusts and Estates department of Linder Myers Solicitors, has been appointed to the official panel of Professional Deputies of the Court of Protection. A Deputy is someone appointed by the Court of Protection to manage the financial affairs or welfare of a…
Lasting Powers of Attorney are the only method by which you can choose the person or people who will take over the management of your affairs if you lose the mental capacity to do so for yourself (for example as the result of a stroke or dementia). You can also choose how your Attorneys act…
The history and role of the Court of Protection has been widely misreported of late. Despite the assertions of the media, it was not set up in 2007 by Jack Straw to seize the assets of the elderly. It has been around in one form or another all this century and for most of the…
BBC1’s “The One Show” recently ran a story involving a lady whose husband was in a coma for three years until he sadly passed away. The husband, although he had made a Will, had made no advance provision appointing an Attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) to look after his financial affairs. This…
Question: My mother is elderly and living in a Nursing Home. She has been diagnosed as suffering from dementia. She has told me that she wants to make a new Will. Is she able to do so? Answer: In order to make a new Will your mother needs to have the required mental capacity to…
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