Elderly care

If you, or a relative, are thinking of moving in to a care home, or are starting to plan for your future, it can often seem daunting. There’s lots to consider and you will no doubt have a lot of questions.

Our elderly, care and mental capacity solicitors can help guide and advise you each step of the way to help you achieve the best outcome. By helping you to understand how care is funded and what the likely costs will be, you can plan for the future in the most efficient manner.

As people get older it can become increasingly important to feel that your affairs have been put in order. You can rely on us to act in your best interests and be reassured that your future care needs are met.

Mental capacity

It’s important to consider who would make decisions for you in the future if you were unable to do so as a result of a loss in mental capacity. In order for a person to legally make decisions for you, a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) needs to be created so that you can appoint the person as an attorney. You can create a LPA for either your property and finances or your health and welfare.

Appointing an attorney is an effective way of making sure that someone you trust can make decisions for you. You can also appoint a professional person as an attorney.

If you have a friend or relative who has already lost mental capacity and can no longer deal with decisions relating to their property and finances or their health and welfare you can make a request to the Court of Protection to be appointed as their Deputy and be given the power to make decisions on their behalf.

Care

We also advise the families of children with physical and learning disabilities and adults with disabilities who rely on the care system. This may involve a dispute over funding with the NHS or local authority, and problems relating to accommodation or service provision.

How our elderly, care and mental capacity solicitors can help

Our specialist team works with you to make sure that they understand the problems you may be facing. The team will listen to what you want to achieve and then tailor their advice to you.

We strive to be the trusted adviser for you and your family and through our network of contacts we can help you find a solution to most care needs and problems, not just those with a legal element to them.

We can help you with:

• Advanced decisions for health (living wills)
• Care funding advice including NHS and Local Authority funding
• Powers of Attorney including Enduring and Lasting Powers of Attorney
• Acting as a deputy or attorney
• Court of Protection applications
• Discharge from hospital procedure
• End of life care
• S117 aftercare after detention under the Mental Health Act

Our team members are passionate and committed; we see it as a vocation not a job. Justine Clowes and Genevieve Powrie are members of Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE), a national organisation of solicitors who specialise in aspects of the law that affect elderly people