Expert Comments

Opinion

The dangers and legal implications of adding someone to a bank account

It is quite common for the elderly and incapacitated to add a third party to their bank accounts so that someone can help them with their finances. They may appoint...

September 28, 2018

Opinion

Lasting Powers of Attorney – could recent FCA proposals leave the system completely open to abuse and fraud?

In a paper published recently City watchdogs the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have proposed changing the way in which applications for a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) are made. Currently,…

October 9, 2017

Blog

Do you really need a solicitor to get probate?

Most probate practitioners have come across clients who report the death of a relative, come to the office to collect the will and advise us that they can deal with...

September 26, 2017

Opinion

Charlie Gard and best interests’ decisions

There has been a great deal of press coverage of the sad case of Charlie Gard who was born with a very rare genetic disease causing progressive muscle weakness and...

July 31, 2017

Blog

New rules apply when referring PI clients to your private client team

Many PI lawyers refer their clients to their firms’ Private Client team where members of the same firm will then set up a PI trust and act as professional trustee.…

May 10, 2017

Opinion

Severe cuts in payments to bereaved families.

When my father died in the 1970s leaving a widow and three teenage children, my mother was entitled to a Widow’s Pension which was the equivalent to a State Pension...

April 18, 2017

Opinion

Help for the families of missing persons

A very high number of people go missing each year in the UK. The figure is about 275,000. About one third of the missing are adults. Most people who go...

March 15, 2017

Opinion

Deprivation of liberty and deputies

A property and affairs deputy doesn’t have an obligation to worry about whether P is being deprived of their liberty because that is a welfare matter right? Wrong. The recent...

January 11, 2017

Blog

The importance of making a living will part 2

The Court of Protection has recently heard a case concerning a 43 year old policeman who was badly injured in a motorbike accident in July 2015 and was left in...

January 10, 2017

Opinion

Sending damages to vulnerable clients or those receiving benefits – the risks and pitfalls

Most personal injury practitioners will at some time or another act for vulnerable clients such as those with head injuries, learning disabilities or mental illness. Whilst these clients may have...

December 15, 2016

Opinion

Government inquiry into the funding crisis in adult social care

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to assist people who by reason of age, illness or disability are in need of care. This is generally known as adult social care...

November 21, 2016

Blog

High court allows a request for a body to be frozen after death.

The High Court has just decided that the body of teenage girl who died of cancer should be cryogenically frozen - the first case to deal with the subject of...

November 18, 2016

Blog

The “secretive” Court of Protection

The Court of Protection (COP) is relatively new to the legal system and was established via the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and started operating in October 2007. The COP specialises...

November 17, 2016

Opinion

Worried about your pension?

It’s easy not to think about your pension while you are working and earning a salary. But now that life expectancy is longer, you could live for decades without earning...

October 19, 2016

Blog

Adverts that promise you can avoid care home fees are seriously misleading

Many people are concerned that the cost of their future care home fees will reduce their childrens’ inheritance. So they are interested in finding ways to avoid having to pay...

September 22, 2016

Opinion

A cap on care fees will never happen

You may remember that the Coalition Government introduced a cap on care home fees so that no person would ever have to pay more than £72,000 for care throughout their...

September 7, 2016

Opinion

Travelling abroad with a disability

I broke my ankle about a week before I was due to go on holiday. Whilst I don't begin to compare my injury with the disabilities that some of my...

August 5, 2016

Blog

Unclaimed benefits

The DWP has just published some astonishing figures revealing the level of welfare benefits which are available but not claimed. They have calculated that there are benefits worth £14 –...

August 2, 2016

Blog

How will Brexit affect adult social care?

It is well known that there are 55,000 EU migrants working in the NHS, as doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, support workers and in admin. It is less well known that...

July 14, 2016

Blog

Government protection for temporary high bank balances

Most people are aware that the government will protect up to £75,000 of funds held in a bank account if the bank collapses. Up until the end of last year,…

July 6, 2016