Posts tagged “Lasting Power of Attorney”

When you’re heading into your later years, one concern that will probably persistently niggle at the back of your mind is the risk of dementia. 
 
Steps to prevent dementia 
In an ideal world we could all delay or avoid the onset of dementia entirely. 
 
There is now a new national plan for family doctors to assess your dementia risks as part of the NHS health check, which is offered to patients aged between 40 and 74. You will be asked about your current lifestyle and be advised about steps you can take to reduce your level of risk. 
 
 
 
 
In the television show ‘Family Fortunes’ relations work together. Unfortunately, it’s not always the case. This is a true and very sad story… 
 
Two sisters eventually escaped from their violent father and drunken, uncaring mother. In their adult lives they helped and supported each other. 
 
One of the sisters started a family and built a strong network of friends. Unfortunately, the other sister’s emotional scars from their early childhood experiences went so deep that she was unable to resist them. 
Health care experts say that just 25 per cent of older women and 20 per cent of older men do any exercise at all. It is recommended that we should all be undertaking 150 minutes of exercise weekly, however some studies show that only 2 per cent of older adults manage to achieve this target. 
 
Doctors along with some age related charities have written to the British Medical Journal, stating that many older people believe that exercise is just for the young. There needs to be a shift in peoples attitudes. As an ageing population, if we do not exercise as we get older to keep ourselves physically fit, there will be an even greater demand on social care. Experts are calling upon the elderly to take responsibility and understand their role in keeping themselves fit and healthy to lesson the demand for social care in the future. 
Whether you’re 18 or 88, you never know what’s around the corner. 
 
That’s why arranging a Lasting Power of Attorney is important. 
 
Let me explain… 
We really are not very good at getting our affairs in order, we will think about it briefly and then shove to the back of our minds. We all know that it is important and that we should, but it often takes something to happen before we do anything about it, whether that is we have become ill ourselves, or something happens to a loved one or a close friend, and often it can then be too late. 
The 'Care Cap' that had previously been introduced into the Care Act 2014 by the Government which was then put on hold and planned to come into play in 2020 has been abandoned. 
According to the Office for National Statistics, there is a steady rise in the number of deaths occurring during the winter months, with the majority of these being women and the elderly. 
When we talk about a vulnerable person, we often associate this with the elderly, however this is not always the case, people can be classed as being vulnerable at all different ages, it is not just about age, it can be about abilities and emotions.  
 
In the Will Writing & Estate Planning industry, every adult has a right to be able to make a Will or put in place a Lasting Power of Attorney. People often think that because a person may have some learning difficulties that they are not capable of putting a Will in place, until it is proven that a person does not have the capacity to do something, then you need to assume that they do have the capacity. 
 
Who has gone to visit their loved one in a Care Home? The answer is most of us have, either as a relative or a close friend, and how many times do you go in, and you see several people sat in the communal lounge, most often asleep, there is no activities, or very little activities, or the residents sat in their rooms, again often asleep. This is no fault of the care homes in general, they are busy people, have a lot of people to look after, and limited funds.  
 
Well a Northampton Man is looking at changing all that! 
Power of Attorney is not just for the elderly. As an Estate Planner, I see people all the time that have been thrown into a situation where a loved one, whether it be a spouse or partner or their son or daughter has had an unexpected accident, or has suddenly become very ill or has been diagnosed with a life changing illness. Recently I had a young girl in her late teens that had been diagnosed with having a brain tumor. 
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