Lasting Powers of Attorney – FAQs

Lasting Powers of Attorney – FAQs I have recently spoken at a few networking events about Lasting Powers of Attorney and I thought I should put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!) and go through some of the common questions I am asked and give you my answers. I hope that it will help you to make an informed decision as to whether you should have a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place. WHAT IS A POWER OF ATTORNEY? An LPA is a legal document where you appoint people (your Attorneys) to act on your behalf when you […]

Girls About Town – Radio Interview on Wills

Girls About Town – Radio Interview on Wills Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the lovely Girls About Town on Swindon 105.5 radio. I was discussing the importance of having a Will in place and came up with some common questions that I am asked by my clients. You can listen to the interview here. ARE WILLS ONLY FOR OLDER PEOPLE? One of the things that you can do in your Will is appoint legal guardians for your children who are under eighteen. So if you are a young family it is important to have a […]

Life before Death – what really matters?

ATUL GAWANDE – BEING MORTAL Living life to the fullest is important to me. I have just read “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. It raises important issues about life before death. If you are told you have a terminal illness, how would you cope? How would your family manage? What actually matters in the end? What “trade offs” are you willing to make to prolong your life? How do you want to spend your last year, months or days? These are important questions that few people discuss until they have no choice. CHOCOLATE & FOOTBALL Atul Gawande is a surgeon […]

Coffee, Cake & Death – can you plan your own funeral?

The 11th of October 2016 saw the second death cafe at the Dojo Coffee House in Swindon. The event was organised by Sue Holden who is a Grief Recovery Counselor and Specialist. It might sound a bit morbid, but death is a certainty and in my line of work, I have to talk about it all the time. This is not normal for many of my clients. Writing a Will is like facing up to your own mortality and can be quite a difficult thing to undertake. This is one of the reasons why I support the Death Cafe and […]

Older People’s Day

I recently had the opportunity to take part in Bluebird Care’s celebrations of UK Older People’s Day which was on 1st October 2016. The event took place at the Ellendune Centre in Wroughton and Robert Buckland MP started off the proceedings with a speech recognising the local carers, charities, council and individuals that all help in their own way to provide care, advice, company and practical help to older people in Wiltshire. I was actually quite surprised at the number of local and national charities that provide care to the elderly in various ways. Many help with the transition from […]