PERSONAL LEGAL WILLS, TAX & ESTATE PLANNING
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"State snatch" threat to elderly
10/09/2009
Tollers is advising local elderly people to put together a document known as a health and welfare lasting power of attorney. It means that in the event they can no longer make decisions for themselves, they will have already appointed a family member to look after them.
“What it really means is that social services cannot make decisions on their behalf against the wishes of their family,” explained solicitor and member of Solicitors For The Elderly Martin Hill.
“In April this year there was a terrible case in Coventry where 86-year-old Betty Figg, who was suffering from dementia, was taken by social workers against the wishes of her daughter.
“They arrived with police and a battering ram, and the media spread pictures of her being taken away in a wheelchair with a towel thrown over her head.
“It seems that social services had decided that it wasn’t in Betty’s best interests to be cared for by her daughter in a specially converted room in her home.”
Martin added: There’s no need to risk social services making care decisions on your family’s behalf without even talking to them.
“By making a health and welfare lasting power of attorney you are giving your family more options to find the best way to care for you, when you can’t care for yourself.”
A health and welfare lasting power of attorney is a legal document which allows a person with mental capacity to appoint others to act on their behalf if they later lose mental capacity, and health or welfare decisions need to be made.
