The Law and Caring for Loved Ones

It is a reality of today’s society that as life expectancy has increased, so has the prevalence of conditions such as dementia and alzeimers affecting peoples capacity to manage their own affairs. If legal authority is not in place, many people find themselves in a position whereby they cannot pay bills or nursing home fees for friends or family. There are two options in this regard:

Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) – if the individual still retains their capacity then an EPA is a quick and cost effective way of ensuring that one or more persons have the authority to manage your property and affairs if the need arises.  An EPA can be a very simple, straight forward document costing around £100 plus VAT and may contain any restrictions you wish for example you can prohibit your attorney from selling your house.

Controllership – if the individual has unfortunately already lost their capacity then they cannot grant an EPA however there is an alternative process in place to gaining legal authority to manage their affairs. This is by way of a controllership application to the Office of Care &. Protection in the High Court and involves an application form setting out the persons circumstances, a medical certificate confirming their incapacity and serving notice on them and their next of kin to ensure that it is not applied for unnecessarily. The process will take between 3-6 months and requires court fees of around £350 however these will be recovered from the individuals own fund along with the solicitors fees once the Controller Order has been granted by the Court.

If you would like more information on either process, please contact us on 028 87724333, info@fgpatton.co.ukor www.fgpatton.co.uk