If you are a deputy or an attorney you may receive a telephone call from a Court of Protection Visitor asking to arrange an assurance visit. This may send you into a panic, after all for those who don't work in the law every day this would be no different to the Judge themselves visiting! You do not need to panic though. The Visitors are just human beings and are there to help you. The Visitor is a member of the Court of Protection team. They help the Court in making sure that deputies and attorneys are looking after the affairs of those they are appointed to look after. The Visitors help with supervising and supporting the Court. A Visitor will only want to talk to you about one person, the person you have been appointed to look after. Their visits are not short. They can take three hours to complete but this is because they go into detail about how things are managed. A Visitor will look at how often you see the person you look after, whether you speak to others about their needs and will make sure that you have accountability for decisions you make. They will want to make sure that you have informed everyone you need to about the existence of the deputyship order or power of attorney. They will make sure that you are aware of the benefits the individual you look should receive and may ask to look at insurance paperwork, details of investments, bank statements, contracts, invoices and other paperwork to document your actions. A Visitor will ask about past decisions and future plans for the individual you look after. This is to make sure you are considering their best interests and have some structure to the way in which you manage your appointment. The Visitor will not just want to meet you. They will want to see the individual you are looking after as well. This is to find out about them and to gain insight from their perspective into how they are being looked after. If you are lucky enough to meet a Visitor use it as an opportunity to extract nuggets of wisdom from them about how to do things, how to record decisions and to gain an insight into what the Court of Protection are looking for from their attorneys and deputies. If you have any worries or concerns about how your appointment as attorney or deputy is going we are experts in this field. We would be happy to talk to you about any issues you face and help as much as you need. Please call us on 01622 843729.

As we are looking out the window at snowy scenes I thought I would break from my theme of care and look at cold weather payments. These are important for our elderly and vulnerable communities as they provide extra funds to help with increased heating costs during our coldest times. We all know that at the moment they will not deal totally with the increased heating costs but there is extra help available. These fuel related payments do not include the cost of living payments which have been introduced by the Government, which are in addition to the help available for fuel costs. Winter Fuel Payment If you were both before 26 September 1956 you may be eligible for a winter fuel payment. The winter fuel payment is paid to those living in the UK, but there are some circumstances where the payment is made to those living abroad. If you are living in your own home or in a care home you should receive this payment. There may be some exemptions if you live in a care home and are receiving certain benefits, so it is important you check eligibility. To qualify for the payment this year you need to have been living in the UK during the week of 19 to 25 September 2022. This is called the qualifying week. If you are eligible a letter should have been sent by the DWP in October or November telling you the amount you should receive. This year payments will range between £250 and £600 depending upon your personal circumstances. This increased amount will take into account the additional pensioner's cost of living payment of between £150 and £300 announced by the Government. If you have not received a letter but think you might be eligible check by telephone on 0800 731 0160 which is the number for the Winter Fuel Payment Centre. Cold Weather payment If you receive pension credit, income support, income based job seekers allowance, income based employment support allowance, universal credit or support for your mortgage interest you may be able to receive a cold weather payment. For every 7 day period of cold weather between 1 November and 31 March you will receive a payment of £25. This should be credited to your bank (the same one as your pension or benefits) within 14 days. Warm Home Discount If you receive the guarantee credit element of pension creditor are on a low income and have high energy costs you may be able to claim the warm home discount. This is a one off discount on your electricity bill for the year. Funds are not paid to you. A discount is applied to your electricity bill between October 2022 and March 2023. If you have a pay as you go meter or live in a park home there is a slightly different way of claiming the discount available under the scheme. Energy Bill Support Scheme This scheme provides a £400 non repayment discount to eligible households to help with the payment of energy bills for the 2022/2023 year. All households with a domestic electricity supply in England are eligible for the discount. You do not need to do anything to claim this support other than check your electricity bill. The discount will be applied to your monthly household electricity bill for 6 months starting in October 2022. You will receive £66 in October and November and £67 in December, January, February and March. If you pay by direct debit this payment will be deducted from your monthly payment or credited to your bank account. Different arrangements are made for those who use prepayment meters, payment cards or pay your electricity as part of your rent. Household Support Fund If you are struggling with your heating costs each local authority has a household support fund which can provide further assistance with hearing costs. This has to be claimed via the local authority covering your home. If you have any difficult with any of these payments or know someone you think should be able to claim but isn't please give us a call as our team can help to make sure those who need this help the most can benefit. Our number is 01622 843729.

Sometimes being a legal executive regulated firm is hard. There are many things that cause us more trouble than the conventional solicitor firms. Some days are really difficult because of the challenges we face but others are amazing. Like yesterday .......... Argo had been approached by an elderly gentlemen at an information event we attended. He advised us his partner of ten years had died in June and that the executors of her will had issued eviction proceedings to force him to leave his property. After three solicitor letters and no contact from his "stepchildren" to help him find alternative accommodation he was scheduled to attend an eviction hearing yesterday. This gentleman is 92 years old, an Armed Forces Veteran and he lives with mobility and health problems. He has little savings and lives on his state pension and war pension. He had approached another solicitor for advice who had charged him £1600 for one visit and provided a quote for further work to challenge the estate of his late partner. He had received no advice or support and they had not listened to what he wanted to do. He wanted to leave the house and start again so he could be happy somewhere for the remainder of his life. He applied to go on the housing register for accommodation but was told there was a three month delay in processing applications. He did not know how to prepare a defence to possession proceedings nor could he afford to employ someone to argue his case. We said we would help him. You may not know that legal executives cannot represent their clients in Court because we are not given automatic rights of audience like solicitors. We have to complete extra qualifications to be able to do this or qualify as a solicitor. Not all legal executives have qualified as litigation experts but that does not mean we cannot argue for what is fair and just. We received the Court bundle from our client on Thursday to review. The executors of the estate were claiming £6800 in rent for the period from the death of his partner and the solicitors they instructed were claiming costs of just under £10,000. Some positives! Our client had been in contact with the Royal British Legion to see whether they could assist with accommodation as he was a Veteran. Not everyone knows that the Legion can help with accommodation. He was lucky. They had an available property. He had been able to sign a tenancy agreement and the Legion did as much as they could to make sure the keys were available for him to move into as soon as possible. He was giving a moving in date of 5 December. Our client was able to arrange assistance from a fabulous removal company who helped him to pack and move his home. We were able to arrange a fantastic clearance company who removed all items he could not take to him new home to sell at auction. We went to the Court hearing on his behalf. So, what happened at the hearing? Whilst we could not provide evidence, the Judge asked us the position with our client. We told her the facts. It was very clear from the conversations that took place in the Court the Judge was not happy with the case sat before her. It must have been another sad and desperate case for her which could have ended up so differently. The Judge decided there was to be a 75% reduction on the claim for rental income by the executors and a reduction the executors' cost to £1500. A fantastic and fair result for our client. What did we learn from this? Argo needs to continue to stand up for those clients who do not have a voice, whether through illness or lack of finance. We always knew that legal executives are worth their weight in gold and are an equal to solicitors despite what others may say. You do not have to be a solicitor or work in a traditional solicitors firm to make a difference. It is about you, the adviser, your approach and the difference you make. If you are an executor that needs to gain possession for a property you need to make sure that you do as much as you can to help the evictee to find alternative accommodation. Don't just simply expect to go to Court and get what you ask for. We knew anyway that when we advise clients who are not married or are on their second or third marriages, that there needs to be significant discussion about what is to happen when one of them dies to avoid this exact situation from arising. Unfortunately, these events are all too common because of badly drafted wills and lack of thought. They can be avoided. These are the days that the team at Argo get out of bed for!

Do you know there are different pathways under which individuals are discharged from hospital? Pathway zero is simple. There is zero need for help! Following a stay in hospital a patient is discharged the their usual place of residence. They are fully independent upon discharge and do not require any further support. Pathway one is where a patient is discharged to their usual place of residence but needs interim support. This could be with a new package of care or with tweaks to their existing package. They may receive reablement support to help maximise their independence along with some therapy or equipment to held them. These individuals can be left safely alone between calls and overnight. Pathway two will see a patient transferred to a non acute bed setting to receive rehabilitation and assessment until they are safe to return home. The placement will be short term and may or may not involve reablement and assessment. There may be some element of specialist rehabilitation but these individuals will be unsafe if they are left alone between care calls or overnight calls. Pathway three is the term which is all the rage with hospital discharges at the moment. Lots of patients with dementia , complex or long term health conditions are discharged under pathway three. There may have been life changing health care needs as a result of illness or accident or complex end of life or mental health needs. This pathway can also be used if there are completed housing and homeless needs, Patients are transferred to new long term beds, outside of the hospital environment, usually for assessment, as they have complex needs which require professional input from multiple sources and a high need for a package of care. Pathway three is paid for by the Integrated Care Boards (the NHS) rather than the individuals. It is important to understand what pathway you or your family member are being discharged under as this has knock on consequences for funding and future support. Argo are care experts and can help navigate the care minefield. If you want our help give us a call on 01622 843729.

If your child was lucky enough to receive a child trust fund from the Government you need to make sure they are claiming their entitlement when they turn eighteen. There is a potential £2,100 which may be there for them to claim. Trust fund accounts were set up for every child born between 1 September 2022 and 2 January 2011. A payment of £250 was made for each child with the account maturing when they are eighteen. If no account was opened by their parent HMRC automatically opened an account for them. The scheme no longer exists as it was closed in January 2011 and was replaced with a junior individual savings account. If you have a child born between this period and you know the child trust fund provider they should be contacted directly or you can visit www.gov.uk and complete an online form to find out where the trust fund is held. Here is the link should you need to investigate further. https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund

The team at Argo just want to wish you all a Happy Halloween but wanted to remind you to watch out for your elderly neighbours. Whilst Halloween is fun for children it can be a particularly scary time for our elderly and vulnerable neighbours. Trick or treating and knocking on doors can frighten those who are not expecting visitors. People can feel panic and high amounts of stress at this time of year and may be suffering with samhainophobia, a fear of Halloween. If your neighbourhood is planning a trick or treating event just let your vulnerable neighbours know or perhaps just check to make sure they are doing okay and take them something nice instead!

We just wanted to let you know that if you are waiting for a Lasting Power of Attorney to come back registered from the Office of the Public Guardian you could be waiting some time! Current updates from the OPG are putting registration times at 20 weeks from the date they receive your application for the process to complete. This is a considerable period of time to wait. If you need assistance with your financial affairs now you may want to consider making a general power of attorney. This will allow attorneys to help until such time as your property and affairs lasting power comes through. If you need assistance with your health and welfare consider putting in place an advanced directive or living will and make sure that your doctors know your wishes whilst you can. If you are struggling as a result of this delay and need to consider what you can do in the meantime please give us a call for further advice on 01622 843729.

There is absolutely no need for you to pay for the administration of your estate upfront. If you are ever asked to sign up to a prepaid probate plan you need to say no. This could be the next big mis-selling debacle for our older and vulnerable clients, who I for one, really care about. The usual scare mongering tactics are employed by companies who sell these products. They try to frighten clients about the professional advice provided by regulated lawyers by saying probate is needed for assets in excess of £5,000, that a bank or solicitor has to complete the probate process or that regulated professionals charge 4% of the value of the estate or more for complex estates. These providers offer to fix costs to avoid unnecessary expenses, a reduction in stress by minimising legal responsibility, to ease anxiety by protection from financial liability and promise the plans are quick and easy to arrange. They will tell you about the huge responsibility that will come at a distressing time and the personal legal liability that will fall on your shoulders, how wills could be misread and interpreted wrongly, how liabilities and debts could be incorrectly assessed, funds could be distributed too soon or tax forms could be incorrectly completed. And all of these could happen whether you use a company that offers a prepaid probate plan or a regulated lawyer! They are not your saviours. So you can compare, I thought I would tell you how I run an estate administration in my office. I will draft a will for for a fixed price and store it in my strongroom for free. If you wish to use my company to deal with the administration of an estate you can but you have the freedom of choice to do as you wish. I will not charge you now for an estate that may or may not need a Grant of Probate in the future. I will not make you appoint my firm to act as an executor so I have to deal with the administration and charge. If you choose to appoint Argo to assist you in your role as executor you can choose the service you wish to purchase from me and pay for it when it is needed, and not before. You will only pay for the service you purchase. The fees I charge are paid by the estate and not by you as executor. I make a minimum charge of £2,500 plus VAT to deal with an estate but my fees are clearly detailed in my terms of business and certainly never reach 4% of the value of the gross estate. Sometimes there are things that need to be done which fall outside the scope of daily estate administration so I charge separately for these and you can see what I charge before I do the work for you. If you do not wish Argo to complete the full administration you can pick and choose the jobs you want me to do at an agreed price. It is my job to protect you as an executor. If you act you do have a personal liability if things go wrong but you pay me to ensure they don't. We check for unclaimed assets, complete comprehensive searches for assets, chase down missing beneficiaries, advertise for debts, correctly complete the application for the Grant, deal with all tax calculations and save you from dealing with HMRC. If something does go wrong I have insurance that you can claim against so the liability does not sit with you. It is the asset that governs whether you need a grant in an estate not the value of the estate. If you have shares or a house, or a significant balance in a bank account it is likely you will need a grant. If you own things jointly you should not need a grant and if you don't need a grant there should be minimal or no costs involved in the administration. One question I have not been able to answer is what happens to the money you pay. If you prepay for a funeral plan the funeral company has to protect your money until it is needed. It is held in a special trust which is overseen by the Financial Services Agency who check and supervise funeral plan providers. They have to be regulated because they are holding your money. I cannot find any evidence to indicate how the pre paid probate companies are looking after your money for the future and what happens to it if they go bust (which these companies often do). Why would you want to give a sum of money to someone you have never met, with no information to how it is being looked after, with no guarantees they will be around in the future, when you don't know if you will need the work done anyway because you may not die for decades. Surely that is like giving a stranger on the street your hard earned cash and taking the risk he may bring it back sometime? This is absolutely not worth the risk. Your money is your money and should be kept with you because you may need it. You cannot predict the future and what will happen so how can anyone else. Argo's advice absolutely DO NOT PURCHASE A PREPAID PROBATE PLAN!!

Remember that from 20 September 2022 about 6 million people living with disabilities were entitled to receive an automatic payment of £150 to help with the increased costs of living. This should be paid within two weeks of 20 September if you are in receipt of:- attendance allowance constant attendance allowance disability living allowance personal independence payment adult disability payment and child armed forces independence payment war pension mobility supplement This payment was credited to your council tax account or paid directly into your bank account. For those paying council tax you will have seen a reduction on your council tax bill but for those who claim council tax benefit a credit will appear. By now you should have received a letter from your local authority advising how you can claim the credit sitting on your council tax account. You should be able to telephone your local council or apply via their website. If you have not received a letter please make sure you telephone your local council to claim your cost of living payment.

A deprivation of liberty often arises when a person in unable to leave the care environment they are living in or lacks the ability to make a choice about what happens to them. It is unlawful to deprive a person of their liberty unless express permission has been given or the Court of Protection has authorised. In the recent case of EM Mr Justice Mostyn raised concerns about the lack of representation that was made on behalf of EM in the deprivation of liberty proceedings. On two occasions in short succession, applications were made to the Court of Protection for authorisation to deprive EM of his liberty. The first was to authorise a decision to remove EM from his home to an acute hospital setting because of concerns about his safety and refusal. Sometimes a deprivation of liberty requirement arises outside of office hours and there is an urgent need for decisions to be made. An interim order at an out of hours hearing was granted by the Court of Protection. EM was not represented and did not participate in any other way at the hearing. About a week later a second application was made to the Court of Protection and was put before Mr Justice Mostyn. Again EM was not represented but the Court was provided with statements and letter from the care team looking after EM as to his wants, wishes and feelings. Mr Justice Mostyn voiced his concerns about the lack of representation of EM and set out what he believes should be the minimum degree of participation that should be afforded to individuals, when an application is made to deprive them of their human rights. Mr Justice Mostyn concluded that:- subject to the limited exception (set out below) where an application is made which seeks a deprivation of liberty, the individual must be joined as a party to proceedings and a litigation friend must be appointed to act for him or her. the exception referred to above is where an interim order is very urgently needed and there is just not enough time to secure the individuals' representation before the hearing. But at the hearing, their representation at future hearings must be enabled So, why is this important for us? If a non urgent application for a deprivation of liberty is made to the Court of Protection without the individual concerned in attendance or being represented failure to secure representation will likely render the order unlawful. This will mean that the individual is being illegally deprived of their liberty, an event which could give rise to a negligence claim again the local authority. If you know someone who is subject to a deprivation of liberty make sure their paperwork in order and that they attended any hearing in relation to their deprivation. If you are struggling with deprivation issues please give our care team a call on 01622 843729.

In the case of Re Clitheroe deceased a dispute arose in the estate of the late Jean Clitheroe which resulted in John Clitheroe arguing with his sister Susan Bond over the terms of their mother's will. Jean had completed two wills in 2010 and 2013 and arguments took place as to whether these wills were valid, which would have given the entire estate to John or whether they were invalid which would mean that John and Susan would inherit equally under the Intestacy Rules. The relationship between Jean and her daughter Susan deteriorated after the death of her eldest daughter and John and Susan's eldest sister. Jean suffered significantly following the death of her daughter and took to her bed where she remained until her death. The relationship further deteriorated after the marriage of John. The Court found that Susan was not responsible for the deterioration in her relationship with her mother as Jean had taken against her, despite attempts to reconcile, and was adamant that it was her daughter who had cut her out of her life, not the other way round. In 2010 Jean prepared a will leaving her residuary estate to her son John. In 2013 a further will was made which appointed John as sole executor and leaving him the estate. In making the 2010 will she stated that she was not giving Susan anything because she was a "shopaholic and would just fritter everything away" and said that "she is such a spendthrift" and that she would "just spend away her inheritance". In 2013 Jean stated that she wanted to leave everything to John "as he does everything for her and nothing to her daughter". She provided further handwritten notes to her solicitor stating that she had not seen Susan since John's wedding and she had not seen Susan's daughter. She again repeated that Susan was a shopaholic and that if Jean was left with Susan she would "starve to death". She accused her daughter of stealing personal items from her and from the estate of her late daughter. John wanted to prove that both wills were valid. Susan disputed their validity because she believed her mother lacked capacity to make them. She felt her mother suffered with a complex grief reaction from around the time of her sister's death which resulted in a continued affective disorder manifesting in depression and insane delusions regarding Susan together with a poisoning of her mind against her. Jean was considered to be of very strong character and was described as strong willed and stubborn. There was nothing in medical records to suggest she was living with cognitive impairment. A clinician found she had capacity just before her death. In psychiatry a delusion is defined as:- a fixed false belief which is out of keeping with the person's social, cultural, educational, or religious background. A fixed false belief means that a person holds on to a belief in the face of strong evidence or argument that it is false. It is not sufficient to show that the belief is false but that the mind has adopted a belief which is out of keeping for that person's background and rigidly holds on to it, no matter what arguments are put against it. Delusions do not respond to reason. It is not possible to talk someone out of a delusion. The Court decided that in order to establish whether a delusion exists the relevant false belief must be irrational and fixed in nature. it is not necessary to demonstrate that it would have been possible to reason the individual out of the belief. Evidence was considered and the Court supported Susan's claim. The wills were not proved by the Court and her estate was administered under the Intestacy Rules. An insane delusion does not necessarily come with someone who has an issue with their capacity. it does not necessarily sit with someone who has mental health problems. We can all suffer from insane delusions where we completely believe something to be true, even when it is not, to the point that it poisons our mind against someone. Drafting a will can be complicated and experience is often needed to consider issues like capacity and insane delusions. These are reasons that challenges can be made to wills but can easily be overcome by appropriate advice, support and evidence. If you need help with drafting your will please give us a call on 01622 843729.

From 12 October Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone Hospital have reintroduced the wearing of facemasks on both sites following an increase in covid infections. Anyone attending either site will be expected to wear a facemask and patients are being asked to take covid tests. Visiting at both Hospitals have also been limited to two visitors per patient at any one time. Further restrictions will take place on neo-natal wards. Cafes on the sites have closed. If you are due to receive surgery you will be advised of the action you need to take. Other NHS sites across Kent will differ depending upon the NHS Trust. For further information on the new changes visit www.mtw.nhs.uk/2022/10/latest-information-on-the-coronavirus