Why Long Term Care Solicitors are Important for the Elderly
Older age is often accompanied by several different important life decisions and many of these decisions are exclusive to the later years in life. These decisions can revolve around estate issues or could include plans for long term care. There may also be a need to develop a plan around arranging for major healthcare decisions should that be needed in older age. With advancing years, the elderly may need to seek legal advice on a number of matters such as the sale of the family home, arranging an equity release scheme, organising a will or even determining who will take on the responsibility of Lasting Power of Attorney.
Therefore, it is important that the elderly have access to the legal support and help they need or will need in the near future. For most elderly, it can be helpful to choose and appoint a legal adviser who specialises in advising the elderly and has an understanding of the population’s specific needs. There are needs that are exclusive to the elderly and it is important to choose a legal adviser that knows the demands of those issues. For example, the elderly need to think about long term care, including their needs and how to pay for them. The elderly population also has to start thinking about how they will divide their assets or who they will choose to make important decisions for them should they come to a point in time when they can no longer make independent decisions.
There is a national independent organisation called Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE) that can help aid in all of these important life decisions. Solicitors for the elderly has solicitors, lawyers, barristers, and legal executives who provide specialist legal advice for older and vulnerable people, their families and carers. This is an important resource because it combines every area where the elderly might need help. It is also specialized enough to account for the unique needs of the elderly population.
Solicitors for the elderly has a website that has a search facility for you to find a specialist in your own location. These are some of the areas of advice that are available:
• Estate and tax planning using wills
• Trusts and lifetime giving
• Giving powers of attorney and Court of Protection work
• Probate and the administration of estates
• Trusts administration
• Living Wills
• Information on home care
• Preserving assets in the event of long term residential or nursing care
• Care home contracts
• Advice on financial responsibility and funding criteria for long term care
• State benefits
• Home equity release plans
• Mental Health legislation
• Elder abuse
• Mediation
• Deprivation of Liberty
All solicitors must set out how they will charge for their services and if possible they should provide you with a written estimate for the work that you have instructed them to carry out on your behalf. Some legal practices may offer some work on a fixed fee pricing structure such as making a will. It may be wise to set an upper limit on the costs at the start of the legal process to avoid any shocks later in the process. This will allow you to set guidelines for the person you are working with and will ensure that you do not spend more than you can truly afford for services.
All members of the SFE will have spent a substantial time working with older clients and adhere to a code of practice. This service is especially important for seniors because this age group does truly have so many unique needs. These unique needs include planning for long term care, paying for care, making healthcare decisions and choosing others to make those same decisions if necessary. Learning how to plan for long term care services or how to pay for them can be an incredibly daunting task for any elder consumer. Having specialized legal advice available can really help make the process far more bearable.
Choosing the right advisers can be incredibly critical for elders. The decisions that this population needs to make and the challenges they face are truly very unique and exclusive to this population. Many of their needs apply only to this age group which means that elders should be choosing advisers that have specialties in working with elders. This can help elders make the best decisions possible for the issues they face. Choosing a specialized adviser can also mean that elders will be kept abreast of current and changing regulations and programs that apply exclusively to the elder population, including those that govern long term care. The SFE can make sure that elders are able to make the most informed and best decisions for their particular and unique situation.