KEY SUBJECTS
- MAKING WILLS FOR THE ELDERLY TESTATOR – YOU’RE DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DON’T!
- PROBLEMS AT THE REGISTRATION OF A LASTING AND ENDURING POWER AND BEYOND
- CARE FEE FUNDING AND THE £86,000 CAP: WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE TO OUR CLIENTS?
- COURT OF PROTECTION CASE LAW & PRACTICE UPDATE
- OLDER PEOPLE’S BENEFITS, ALLOWANCES AND PENSIONS – THE BORING BUT ESSENTIAL BITS
SPEAKERS
Tom Dumont QC, Radcliffe Chambers
Caroline Bielanska, Solicitor, TEP, Independent Consultant, Mediator, Author and Trainer
Cate Searle, Director and Head of Community Care Law – Martin Searle Solicitors
Gary Vaux, freelance trainer, writer and broadcaster, and Head of Money Advice, Hertfordshire County Council
PROGRAMME
9.30am CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION
MAKING WILLS FOR THE ELDERLY TESTATOR – YOU’RE DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DON’T!
In this talk Tom Dumont will be covering as many of the pitfalls as he can in an hour, focusing particularly on capacity, understanding and independence, giving the courts’ stance on these issues and the precautions you can take. The talk will include:
- What should you be looking out for?
- What are your risks?
- How do you guard against them?
- What are the consequences if you don’t?
Tom Dumont QC, Radcliffe Chambers
PROBLEMS AT THE REGISTRATION OF A LASTING AND ENDURING POWER AND BEYOND
- Drafting errors/omissions in the LPA
- Execution problems
- Are the OPG right to apply to sever provision in an LPA?
- Discovering the certificate provider is disqualified
- OPG loses original power
- EPA fails to specify if general or specific or how attorneys are to act
- Replacement attorneys in EPAs
- What to do if the OPG won’t register or sever ‘ineffective’ provision in EPA
Caroline Bielanska, Solicitor, TEP, Independent Consultant, Mediator, Author and Trainer
CARE FEE FUNDING AND THE £86,000 CAP: WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE TO OUR CLIENTS?
In early September 2021, the government announced the latest in a series of proposed caps on the amount that any person will have to pay for care costs in their lifetime. Scheduled for implementation in October 2023, the proposed cap is £86,000. How does this affect the advice that we are giving to clients now about their future care arrangements?
- Overview of the main paying for care rules in England and in Wales: means testing
- Care home costs and care at home costs
- The care cap: section 15 Care Act 2014 and what will be different
- Calculations: how much will our clients have to spend before they reach the £86,000 cap
- What our advice needs to capture: positive changes and potential tensions
Cate Searle, Director and Head of Community Care Law – Martin Searle Solicitors
COURT OF PROTECTION CASE LAW & PRACTICE UPDATE
A round up of recent cases of importance decided by the Court, including:-
- Urgent orders and delays at the court
- Overriding an advance decision to refuse treatment
- Covid vaccination refusals
- Difficult family member obstructing deputy
- Predatory marriage
- Solicitors’ costs
Caroline Bielanska, Solicitor, TEP, Independent Consultant, Mediator, Author and Trainer
OLDER PEOPLE’S BENEFITS, ALLOWANCES AND PENSIONS – THE BORING BUT ESSENTIAL BITS
Understanding the benefit system, especially at a time of constant change, is a tricky task, and almost a full-time job in itself. But having just a simple working knowledge of what is out there – and what some of the problems might be – is essential if your elderly clients are going to get the best possible service from you. This session will cover:-
- The basic rules for getting a State pension and how to increase it – especially for those who are maybe owed ££££’s
- Disability benefits – do you know your PIP from your AA?
- Benefits for carers – when to claim carers allowance, when not to and when to claim knowing the claim will fail
- Housing costs – what’s happening with council tax, rent and housing benefit – and when did the DWP become a Loan Arranger?
- New methods of benefit claiming and delivery, as well as new terminology such as ‘mixed age couples’ and LEAP
- The impact of savings
Gary Vaux, freelance trainer, writer and broadcaster, and Head of Money Advice, Hertfordshire County Council
5.00 pm CLOSE OF PROCEEDINGS