Skip to main content

Managing your affairs






There is something that I'd like to share with every reader of this blog article whether they are relatively young or very old:



Make a will and 100% make sure you have created a lasting power of attorney (LPA).



If you own a property and have even the smallest amount of savings you owe it to your nearest and dearest to organise things so that there is as little stress as possible. If you have a partner then each appointing the other is a good idea or your children may be the right people, or a brother or sister but you never know when you will be struck down in such a way that you are not capable of running your financial affairs and personal care. The national statistics for road accidents, heart attacks, strokes etc should serve as a pointer as to why this action is necessary.



You may have guessed that I'm speaking from personal experience and indeed I am. My 83 year old mother finally ended up in hospital after worrying me for some time. Her condition was brought on by a series of mini-strokes and these have left her with vascular dementia which is an incurable problem that will only get worse over time. We, in conjunction with our solicitor, have been battling with the newly formed 'Office of the Public Guardian' http://www.publicguardian.gov.uk/ (which replaced the Court of Protection on 1st October last year) to get access to funds in order to pay for her care in a home specifically for her condition. The order for this has only just arrived to allow an 'interim' payment and the actual court date will not be until mid-February 2008.



It is, in my opinion, an unfortunate fact that if you have savings, have bought your own home, have a personal pension over and above the state old-age pension then you will have to pay for your care until your money and assets have dwindled to £21,500. If you work on the basis of very nearly £600 per week then you will realise just how quickly everything you ever worked for will evaporate. On the other hand if you don't own a bean or live in Scotland then don't worry, you certainly won't end up with less than you have now and you will still get the care. A somewhat concealed fact is that it doesn't stop at £21,500. After this point is reached they continue to take about £5 per £100 worth of care costs until you are down to £13,500.



If you are reading this then you are obviously used to dealing with the web so follow this link and have a read.



http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Over50s/HomeAndCommunity/Carers/DG_10026855



You may want to speak to your solicitor or just download the forms but I thoroughly recommend you take some action. Every one of us will believe it is too soon, we're not old enough and any number of other excuses not to take action. Don't kid yourself!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

House builders discuss 95% mortgages with lenders

So the house builders and the lenders have had a meeting to discuss how they can create 95% mortgages. Basically a good thing, as you would imagine most estate agents would say. But what proportion of the housing Market is represented by new homes sales to first time buyers? Also any first time buyer who purchases a new home is then a cost to the second hand Market of who knows how many sales! If I think back 30 years my wife and I as first time buyers were providing a deposit of 10%. To do this we sold her car, saved up by not going out as much and generally committed ourselves to the task of buying our first home together. Ah, you might say, but house prices were so much cheaper then. True but my salary was just under £2,000 per annum with the prospect of perhaps another £1,000 in commission from selling at lease 6 houses per month personally. The first 4 didn't count towards commission but were to cover my costs to my employer! I personally don't think 95% mortgages are ...
3 comments
Read more

Coming soon...

The iPhone (iOS) and Android powered phones have been around for a while now and 1000's of 'apps' have been downloaded to enable users to go about their daily lives, hobbies etc.  Developers were not slow to target estate agencies and convince them that their own App was a 'must have'. I have always been resistant to their charms and pleadings as I firmly believed an agent's app was n othing more than egotistical vanity! After all, I would rant, why does anyone want to use a search tool for just my listed properties? Homebuyers are looking for their next home and they really don't care who has it for sale - that's why Rightmove has been so successful. That was until I was introduced to Paul Fuggle (rhymes with Bugle) www.gobusinessapps.com  . Paul is currently creating me an app that let's me communicate with everyone downloading it, via Push technology. I can reach out to people rather than passively waiting for them to search my website or use the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

£10k refit competition ??

I have just returned from hospital having had a procedure carried out on my foot/ankle that involves repairing a damaged tendon and realigning my foot by breaking my heel! While waiting to be called down to theatre I sat in my room checking e-mails - as you do when you want to take your mind off things. There was an e-mail from Colin Clayton of Desk Centre Limited http://www.deskcentre.co.uk talking about a £10,000 office refit and all I had to do was create a blog post suggesting why my office should be the one to receive it! What an opportunity - here I am laid up for two weeks before I can mobilise on crutches and my office certainly would benefit from a revamp in 2013. Like most surviving, small, independent estate agents we have done this by cutting costs, reducing premises and regrettably letting staff go. Our address used to be 20-22 Market Place but is now 20 Market Place only. We originally moved to No.20 from our first premises in Newnham Street in 1993- my then bu...
Post a Comment
Read more