The Enduring Power of Attorney is the predecessor to the Property and Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney. Thousands of these have been made throughout England and are sitting quite happily in cupboards waiting to see if they are needed. It is also likely that there are many being inappropriately used by the appointed attorneys. There is no register of documents unlike the property and affairs lasting power. We simply don't know how many have been made. We are regularly asked whether an enduring power of attorney is still a valid document that can be used because of the new property and affairs lasting powers of attorney. The answer to this question is yes, they can. Since 1 October 2007 you have not been able to make an enduring power of attorney. Any document that was signed by the donor and attorneys before this date remains a valid document, as long as it has been signed and witnessed correctly. It could be subject to restrictions and conditions as with the property and affairs lasting power of attorney and does not allow your attorneys to make any decisions in relation to your health and welfare needs, just finances. If you wish to amend your enduring power of attorney, change your attorneys, add restrictions and conditions or use it if a joint attorney has died you cannot. No amendments can be made. It will be necessary for you to prepare the new property and affairs lasting power. If you do prepare the new property and affairs lasting power you should remember to cancel the existing enduring power of attorney. The enduring power of attorney does not need to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian until such time as the donor (the person who gave the power) is beginning to lose capacity. At this point an application for registration should be made by the attorneys. As with any legal application it will not always be straightforward so the helping hand of an expert might not be a bad thing. If you would like to understand how enduring powers of attorney work or how they are registered give us a ring to find out more.

Here we go again! There has been no mention of increasing the application fees for applying for a Grant of Probate since the disaster of 2019 until now. The Ministry of Justice is looking at an increase in probate fees as the existing system places an unfair burden on the tax payer as it operates at a loss. Under proposals published on 8 July 2021 fees for a Grant of Probate are set to rise from £155 for a professional application and £215 for a lay application. Under the new proposals the application fee will rise to £273, regardless of the size of the estate. The consultation period runs from 8 July until 23 July should you wish to make your feelings known. Perhaps an increase in the probate application fee will allow them to employ more staff to make a better job of the new, modernised application process!

There are many rules that govern what happens when you go into nursing care. Are members of the general public really expected to become expert lawyers when the situation arises for their family? Absolutely not. Should the local authority be clear and transparent in how it discusses charges? Absolutely. Are they? No. With the local authority contribution level towards care so low it is not surprising that many family members feel compelled to pay additional care charges to top up fees so their loved one can move into a good care home. Advice in relation to top ups is key if you find yourself in this situation because not all top ups are required let alone lawful. The Care Act is very clear in stating that the amount of an individual's care budget must be broken down into the amount the person requiring care must pay and the amount the local authority pay. There is often confusion in that families do not understand how the calculation is made or proper information is not provided to help them to understand. Families are often not advised to seek independent advice in relation to affordability and the lawfulness of a top up situation. Often you will now find that linked to the question of payment of fees is the choice of home. Many care homes simply cannot care for residents at the low levels of funding set by the local authority and if approached many will refuse to take local authority funded residents without a top up payment. There is a duty on the shoulders of the local authority to ensure that a person has a genuine choice of accommodation when looking to move into care, with at least one option being affordable within their budget as set by the local authority. There must be a choice of options and the person needing care should have the choice of where they live. Top up payments by families must always be optional and never as a result of funding failures in the hands of the local authority result in a lack of choice. A recent local authority ombudsman case reviewed the situation with top up agreements and said "where there is no available and suitable option within the personal budget, the council must up the budget and pay for the placement in full (less the client contribution determined by the financial assessment). A local authority is not allowed to put an arbitrary ceiling on the amount it will spend of certain types of care. Unless you know this at the point of choosing a care home you may find that you willingly accept making a top up payment when you do not have to. It is always important to properly review care paperwork as there are many people in the community who are probably making contributions they should not be making. So how can Argo help with this? Our team of experts advise on care home funding, third party top ups and review the local authority assessments. We hold your hand throughout the assessment process and double check everything that comes your way. We argue too! If something is not right we will get it corrected and make sure everything is done for you in accordance with the legislation governing care funding. Not only that, we support you and your family. At a time when things are stressful and you are feeling different emotions, anger, guilt, worry, fear, sadness, failure (none of which are necessarily appropriate) we can alleviate the stress and the worry of what is going on and give you the confidence to proceed. If you are a fish out of water let us help you!

I read a scary article this morning which has made me think about my retirement. I am 45 in two weeks and have readily accepted that I will probably be at work until I am 80! This is partly because I love my job and partly because I am not convinced I will ever be able to afford to retire. A This is Money article has just confirmed my suspicions. However, on reading This is Money I am going to have to do a lot more than I thought! I have always been sensible and started to pay into my company retirement pension when I was 21. I understood that the earlier I started to save the better my pension would be. We have just encouraged our youngest members of the team to join our pension scheme at the age of 18as we want them to start saving early too. According to This is Money nearly one in three people between the ages of 40 -55 are saving inadequate amounts and will only achieve an adequate standard of living whilst one in four will have to rely on the state pension or have no savings. What scared me the most is that in order to have a moderate standard of living, to provide some financial freedom and resilience I should be putting 21.3% of my salary into my pension pot! That's an amazing figure bearing in mind I am still living, paying for a mortgage, bringing up kids and running a business. It did make me think however. It is not just our pensions that should have a midlife review. How many of us in our 40s have a will? How many have put in place lasting powers of attorney? How many of us have spoken to our parents about these subjects? None of these are issues which should be ignored as they are all important and the ramifications of getting things wrong can be catastrophic for you and your family. Yes, you can look at all of these things and complete them yourself but the benefit of employing an expert team to help can be invaluable. This is what we are here for. Expert advice tailored to your circumstances. Fixed costs to stop things from being scary and methods of payment that fit in with your lifestyle. If you do need a midlife review why not give us a call to help. To read the article in full here is the link https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-9757601/One-three-middle-aged-people-face-struggle-retirement.html?

Solicitors for the Elderly have looked into a situation that many families across the Country face each day. There are over two million people in the UK who cannot make decisions for themselves because of capacity issues. Every family of someone who lacks capacity has the potential to suffer unnecessary stress, worry and heartache if affairs have not been put in order and legal documents signed. Whilst many of us say "it will never happen to us", none of us know what is round the corner and whether we will still be in the same situation tomorrow as today. So why not be prepared for the what if? There are many myths about what you can do for someone who lacks capacity. You cannot make decisions for them just because you are married, have a joint account or have a third party mandate on a bank account. Doctors have no legal duty to liaise with you about medical treatment, local authorities do not have to take family instructions about ongoing care. Lasting Powers of Attorney give this authority to those who are nominated to act as attorney for someone with a capacity problem. There is no point in waiting for the future. There is no point in waiting until someone begins to lose capacity. It may be too late. You put house insurance and car insurance in place to compensate you if there is damage just as you do with life insurance but do you put vehicle breakdown cover in place too? If you do why not do the same for you by preparing a lasting power of attorney. The emergency cover just in case you breakdown. It is scary to see that only 7% of adults have a lasting power of attorney in place compared to 39% of people having a will. The figure for those having made a will should be much higher but those having a lasting power of attorney should definitely be higher! It seems we pay more attention to what happens on death than what happens during our later life. Research from Solicitors for the Elderly shows that more than 84% of people wanted their family or friends to be able to make decisions on their behalf if they became ill but less than 1 in 10 of this 84% had done anything about a power of attorney. Yes, you can make these documents yourself. You can download the forms and complete them yourself. After all, we are all good at filling in forms! However self completion of powers, poor quality legal advice from unregulated advisers, unworkable instructions and easily challenged documents can all result from not taking the correct advice. Yes, there are costs attached to seeing a lawyer to prepare these documents but this is the best investment you may ever make. Lawyers do fill in the forms but the advice and expertise you receive from a lawyer will outweigh the costs of preparing the forms. What price do you put on peace of mind for your family? If you want or need to prepare lasting powers of attorney don't put it off. These documents are the only way to ensure your feelings, wishes and beliefs are heard in the event you lose capacity. The Argo team are experts in preparing lasting powers of attorney, not just in the application of the law but in respect of how lasting powers of attorney can change lives. What you see with us is what you get. A listening ear to ensure that you achieve your wants and wishes and transparent, easy to understand advice which works for you and your family. Let us help you to ensure that the important decisions about your life does not fall into the hands of a complete stranger.

On 14 June the government announced further relaxation of rules relating to residents of care homes. Following this relaxation residents can spend more time with family and friends and can stay overnight if they wish. At present residents can only make high priority visits from the care home for things like dental or GP appointments. More socialisation can now take place without isolation being imposed on them as a consequence. If, however, a high risk visit such as a visit to hospital, or an overnight hospital stay, or another care home takes place there will still be a need to isolate for fourteen days following the visit. Isolation will also continue to take place for those moving into care from a hospital setting. From 21 June new residents admitted to care homes from the community (not hospitals) will no longer have to self isolate for fourteen days following their move. Fantastic news! An enhanced testing regime involving a PCR test before admission, a PCR test on the day of admission and a further PCR rest seven days later will be put in place to ensure covid monitoring. In addition each resident in care can nominate an essential care giver to provide additional support during their visits from someone who knows them best. These essential care givers will still be able to visit during future covid outbreaks or periods of isolation but will be subject to the same rules and regulations for the use of PPE and covid testing.

You may have seen yesterday in news coverage, that legislation is planned to make it compulsory for anyone working in a CQC registered care home in England, which provides nursing or personal care, to have the double dose of the covid vaccination, unless they have a medical exemption. Consultation with the public, staff, providers, residents and families of those in care have lead the government to this decision. Further consultation is to be launched to determine whether this mandatory vaccination rule should be extended to other health and social care settings. It is hoped that from October 2021, subject to Parliamentary approval of the legislation, it will become law and it will apply to all part time and full time staff employed directly by the care home, the provider, agency staff and their volunteers. All other individuals coming into the home ie healthcare workers, tradespeople, hairdressers, beauticians and CQC inspectors will also have to follow the new legislation unless they have a medical exemption. Further discussions are also going to take place to see whether covid and flu vaccinations should become a condition of employment for health and care settings. You will be pleased to know that the team at Argo have received their double vaccination so will continue to be able to visit care homes to take instructions from clients when needed. You know how seriously we take our clients health and wellbeing so why not instruct us to help your family member!

Did you know that Apple will now allow a nominated person to access your Apple account in the event of your death? After a great deal of lobbying and persuasion Apple has given to the persistent campaigners to allow access to emails, pictures and other iCloud contents on death. Previously executors were unable to access accounts on production of a Grant of Probate as Apple required a Court Order to release information. Apple is advising its customers to add an inheritance plan to their will covering the personal information which is stored on their devices and in iCloud. It is hoped that this will simplify the process of acquiring a proper court order and will prevent delay and frustration for families. The facility will allow you to add people to your account as a legacy contact for future use. A death certificate will need to be provided to Apple to then access data. This will not allow Apple to unlock devices secured with a passcode. It is still advisable to notify your executors of any passcodes you may have. Have you given thought as to what happens to your digital assets upon your death. Do you even know what your digital footprint is to pass on details? If you need help with sorting this why not give us a call.

An unwelcome feeling of a lack or loss of companionship is how Perlman and Peplau (1981) describe loneliness. It is a myth that loneliness and isolation just affects our older communities. Whilst research shows that over half a million older people spend between 5 and 6 days a week without speaking to anyone, loneliness and isolation can affect everyone regardless of age. It is thought that over 9 million adults are often or always lonely. Did you know that loneliness is as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, gives you an increased risk of heart attack or angina by 29% and an increased risk of a stroke by 30%. Surprising statistics! It affects our wellbeing and leads to anxiety and depression. Here at Argo we are aware that many of our clients ill experience loneliness and isolation at many different times and we are always trying to ensure we help to combat that. We regularly call our clients to see how they are and drop in to see them just because we want to. Our doors are always open for clients to drop in for a chat, coffee and cake. We have been doing this throughout lockdown but now that we are nearly free we are setting up our new chat and natter cafes. Plans are afoot to hold these across Kent on regular dates for all to attend to say hello. Watch our new feed for more about our chat and natter cafes. Coming soon to a venue near you!

Do you have an illness or a disability which makes life difficult some days? Can you bend down to pick things up off the floor or to put your shoes on? Do you need any equipment to make life a little easier? Do you need reminding to do things or help to do things? If you have answered yes to any of these questions you may be eligible to receive attendance allowance. Attendance allowance can be claimed if you are of state pension age and incur extra costs to live because of your illness or disability. It is a non means tested benefit which is paid to individuals who need help during the day or night to care for themselves, who need supervision with daily activities or need assistance to prevent them from putting themselves in danger. It does not matter how much money you have in the bank or what your income is. What matters is sometimes you struggle a little bit. The payment is made to help you to keep your independence for as long as possible and is, sadly, one of the most under claimed benefits there is. If you have needed assistance for at least six months you may be eligible for financial support. If you have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and you are not expected to live for more than six months you will be eligible for a payment. Attendance allowance covers assistance with things like:- • Washing • Dressing • Getting in and out of bed • Using the loo • Moving around at home ie climbing the stairs, getting in and out of chairs • Eating or drinking and preparing food • Taking medication • Dealing socially with other people • Keeping an eye on you to make sure you are safe Whilst attendance allowance is paid when you stay at home you can also claim this benefit if you live in a residential or nursing home. If you pay for the costs of your care, in full, with no help from the local authority you can still receive attendance allowance. This benefit is not claimed by everyone who is entitled. It should be. You have not asked to have an illness or a disability that makes it difficult to manage each day so why not have a little extra in your pocket to help with those extra costs. You are able to use the allowance to purchase the services of a carer, a gardener, a cleaner, to get a taxi if you cannot drive or take the bus, to purchase a new microwave, whatever it is you need. That extra £50 to £90 per week could make a really big difference! If you need help or advice in claiming attendance allowance please give us a call.

We hope that it would not be a shock to you if had to act as an attorney for someone but sometimes it is! Often people agree to act as an attorney without fully understanding what is involved. It is not always as simple as you may think and it can change very quickly from being helpful to a friend to a full time job. You will have been asked to sign a lasting power of attorney if you are appointed to act. It is important that you understand what you have been asked to do and how you have been appointed. You need to check whether you have been appointed as a first choice or a replacement attorney, whether you are to act jointly, jointly and severally or a mix and match of the two. You need to check whether you are subject to any restrictions and conditions in relation to decision making. You also, and most importantly, must make sure the lasting power of attorney has been registered. It is really important that you make sure you are familiar with the expectations of the Mental Capacity Act which are set out in the Code of Practice. Chapter 7 of the Code of Practice sets out what is expected of an attorney. There are specific rules that relate to some things an attorney cannot do for an individual for example making large gifts. You do not want to fall foul of these rules and regulations. If you need to look at the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice click the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-capacity-act-code-of-practice When you are familiar with what is expected of you the next step is to obtain some certified copies of the lasting powers of attorney under which you are appointed. It is likely that third party organisations will want to see these. If you have been appointed under a lasting power of attorney since September 2019 you may be eligible to access the documents under the new online LPA access scheme. You need to familiarise yourself with the financial affairs of the person who has appointed you as a property and affairs attorney. If you have been appointed as a health and welfare attorney it would be a really good idea to get to know the thoughts, wishes and wants of the person you are to look after in relation to the health and wellbeing so that you know what they want when you are needed to make decisions. And you do all of this before you actually do any work! Once you are familiar with ll of these things you then need to manage, at the point at which you are either asked (in the case of financial powers of attorney) or when capacity is lacking, the decision making process. This means making sure that bills are paid on time, debts are not incurred, funds are correctly invested, income is collected, benefits are collected or cancelled as necessary, paying care fees, taking financial advice, keeping accounts and records and answering questions if you are asked by the Office of the Public Guardian. In relation to health and welfare you may need to discuss issues with GPs, opticians, dentists, make decisions about appropriate care settings and whether or not someone receives life sustaining treatment. Acting as an attorney is not an easy job and you really should make sure you fully understand what you are letting yourself in for. If you are an attorney, and are feeling a little lost of overwhelmed, give our team a call as we will help take the stress out of the situation for you.

If you have prepared a lasting power of attorney since 1 September 2019 the Office of the Public Guardian have now added these to their lasting power of attorney service. This service will allow organisations to access your lasting powers of attorney online rather than needing to see a paper copy of the document. In order to use this service you will need to register with the Office of the Public Guardian online service to request an activation key. This will then be sent to you in the post and away you go! For further details on how to use this service please use the following link to access the guidance published by the Office of the Public Guardian. https://publicguardian.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/04/use-a-lasting-power-of-attorney-more-lpas-are-now-eligible/