The life expectancy of the population increases every year and consequently issues affecting elderly clients are at the forefront of our minds.

Planning for care home fees

We have a skilled Estate Planning Team who can assist with inheritance tax planning including planning for retirement and beyond. We work with a number of independent financial advisors to find the best solutions for our clients.

Wills and statutory Wills

Succession planning will always start with the Will and we will look at all aspects of your estate and financial affairs. We can also discuss lifetime gifts and trust structures.

Where a person has lost capacity and they do not have a Will or it is out of date, a statutory Will may be appropriate. Our contentious team can assist with the application to the Court of Protection and the related paperwork.

Powers of attorney

We recommend that all our clients should take out Lasting Powers of Attorney for property and affairs. These give the appointed person power to manage the affairs of a person who has lost mental capacity enabling them to sell property, buy and sell investments and to manage the estate in a tax efficient manner.

Lasting Powers for Attorney for health and welfare cover more personal decisions relating to the type of care you wish to receive, medical treatment and life sustaining treatment.

Living Wills

We also advise on Living Wills which enable people to elect to refuse medical treatment in certain circumstances.

Disputes relating to Powers of Attorney

As the age of the population increases and issues surrounding capacity become more prevalent, the number of contested applications arising from Powers of Attorney increases.

Our Contentious Trust and Probate team have experience in dealing with Court of Protection hearings bringing applications or opposing them.

Many of our team are members of Solicitors for the Elderly and are skilled in dealing with matters affecting the elderly. In particular with have expertise in assessing capacity in cases where people are severely ill or close to death. We are happy to visit clients and to work with medical practitioners.

Please download and complete our questionnaire for Wills and Power of Attorney.