Managing Affairs

As a team of specialist solicitors, we can help with a wide range of tasks. These typically fall under the category of financial affairs, but we are also able to support our clients with tasks relating to health, property and other ‘life admin.’

Some examples of these tasks include:

• Managing bank accounts.
• Paying bills.
• Pension administration.
• Applying for and claiming benefits.
• Setting up and managing direct debits.
• Paying carers and household staff.
• Managing care home fees.

This comprehensive managing affairs service is designed to help make things simpler for everyone involved. If you have a loved one need help, whether they’re struggling with mental capacity or just aren’t confident using online systems, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

It can be really difficult to care for an elderly or vulnerable relative. If you’re supporting a relative with financial matters, or if you’ve been appointed as their attorney or deputy, you may be feeling overwhelmed by what the role entails. If so, you and your relative may benefit from our paperwork audit service. We can also offer a helping hand if your loved one is preparing for a move, whether that’s to a new house, sheltered accommodation or a care home.

Our team can help you organise and make sense of your/your relative’s paperwork and finances. We can help sort through financial and legal paperwork such as:

• Bank statements.
• Statements for stocks, bonds and annuities.
• Credit card statements.
• Utility bills.
• Property deeds and rental agreements.
• Insurance policies.
• Wills, living wills, powers of attorneys and other legal documents.
• Unopened post.

As part of this process, we’ll make sure that nothing important has been missed and will draw any unpaid bills to your attention.

We’ll create a binder containing all the information you’ll need to keep your affairs in order. This will include details about bank and savings accounts, utility suppliers and insurance providers, as well as a list of emergency contacts for you to use if needed.

Elder financial abuse can take many forms. This serious offence can be perpetrated by family members, carers, friends or tradespeople. If you are concerned about financial abuse, it’s important to act as soon as possible.

This kind of abuse could look like:

● Someone, including a family member, exerting undue influence over someone else’s finances.
● The overt or covert taking of money.
● Using possessions without permission.
● Embezzlement.
● Intentional overcharging for products or services.
● Forgery.

How to protect against elder abuse

It’s awful to think that you or a loved one might be targeted simply because of age or declining health. Whether you want to protect yourself or an older family member, there are steps you can take to safeguard against this.

Speak to a solicitor about LPAs and wills

Legal documents such as Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) and a Will can help to make an elderly person’s finances less vulnerable to abuse. If you do already have a Will or LPA in place, you may wish to review them with a solicitor to ensure they’re still valid and up to date.

Learn how to recognise fraudulent phone calls/emails

Elderly people are more likely to be targeted by fraudsters as they often assume older people will be less able to recognise scams. You can counteract this by familiarising yourself or your loved one with common types of fraud and how to avoid them. Age UK have some excellent resources available to help with this.

Choose and monitor carers carefully

If you or your elderly relative require care, either in the home or in a care facility, it will be important to make sure you carefully consider all the options available.

The majority of care providers take their responsibilities very seriously, but close family members should still expect to play a key role in engaging with care plans and monitoring how successfully they are being carried out.

Keep an eye out for warning signs

One of the best ways to protect elderly relatives from financial abuse is to keep in regular contact and look out for warning signs. These could include:

• Changes in spending habits.
• Additional names being added to bank accounts.
• Cash withdrawals that can’t be explained.
• Unpaid bills.
• Reluctance to talk openly about their financial situation.
• Sudden interest from friends or family members who have not previously been very involved.
• Reluctance to spend money on usual expenses.
• Heightened levels of stress and anxiety.

This service is primarily designed for elderly and vulnerable individuals and their families. However, we’re available to support anyone who feels they would benefit from our help in this way. Many of the elderly and vulnerable clients we support have chosen to work with us directly. In other cases, we have been appointed by family members who need extra support with their caring responsibilities.

We can act in an official capacity if you have chosen to name Roche Legal as a professional attorney in a Lasting Power of Attorney document or if we have been appointed as a professional deputy in a Court of Protection order. We can also support you in a more unofficial capacity if you’re finding it difficult to manage your own affairs, or those of someone for whom you are an attorney or deputy.

Managing affairs is when we help you or someone you care for, manage day-to-day finances or larger one-off financial decisions. This might be because the person needs some additional help themselves, or we are working with an Attorney or a Deputy who is responsible for making decisions for someone else and needs some reassurance or practical help to fulfil their role.

We can help as much or as little as necessary, every case is different. Sometimes, we might only be needed at a fairly low level, to keep finances ticking over and bills paid. In other cases, we might get involved in a more in-depth way such as liaising with accountants and financial advisors. This might be because there are large investment decisions to be made or someone has a one off important financial decision that needs to be considered, alongside professional advice.

As we get older, it can become more difficult to keep on top of every day life admin. This is especially true nowadays with the introduction of new technology to manage everything from utility bills to bank accounts. We can work alongside you or even step in to help ensure your loved one’s affairs are kept in good order and that they don’t fall victim to scams.

It can be daunting to take over responsibility for someone else’s affairs. We can provide a professional Attorney or Deputy service and take on the responsibility so you don’t have to.

Elder abuse is recognised as a crime and is therefore illegal. There are various ways to take action against someone who has committed elder abuse. How you go about this will depend on the type of abuse. Some types of financial abuse should be reported to the police, while others might be better suited to a legal claim. A solicitor who is experienced in these matters will be able to advise you on how to proceed.

Some forms of elder abuse could mean that a Will is considered invalid. For example, this would be the case if there was evidence to suggest that family members or other individuals had pressured or deceived the elderly individual into making the Will.

Acting as an attorney (named in an LPA) or a deputy (appointed by the Court of Protection) is a big responsibility. If an attorney or deputy is not carrying out their role properly, this can be considered elder abuse. In some situations, the problem may be that the attorney/deputy has misunderstood their responsibilities or has underestimated the work involved. In others, they may be deliberately misusing funds. If you have any concerns about an attorney or deputy and how they are carrying out their duties, you should contact the Office of the Public Guardian and/or a solicitor as soon as possible.

It is relatively common for close family members to help elderly individuals to manage their bank accounts. This might be because the elderly person is unfamiliar with technology or because they find it difficult to get to a bank or cash machine themselves. If the elderly person has given their express permission for this, this is perfectly legal. In these circumstances, they would usually need to give this permission formally through their bank.

However, it is not legal to use an elderly person’s bank card without their permission. It is also illegal to use an elderly person’s bank card on their behalf if they no longer have the mental capacity to make this decision, even if they gave you permission in the past. If your relative no longer has mental capacity, only their attorney (named in an LPA) or their deputy (appointed by the Court of Protection) will be able to manage their finances.