Pre covid was bad enough but being isolated and unable to seek help is far worse now. As regular readers will know, I spend a lot of time assisting older clients who simply have no one to support or help them. You may not even know what help is available to you.
Such clients will typically have been only children who never married. Or who were divorced years ago and don’t have siblings or children. Some of my clients have long term mental health problems such as schizophrenia, they can function on a day to day basis but cannot manage all of their affairs.
I am also particularly concerned about older members of the gay community. Especially those who were in the forces and had to spend their working lives hiding the fact that they were gay. This may mean that they were unable to marry, they may have avoided the gay community who would ordinarily have provided some support.
I have been trying to highlight the plight of this group of people to various organisations including SSAFA.
I have also noticed that in traditional religious families individuals have spent their lives hiding the fact that they are gay so as not to upset their parents or their religious community. Again they may remain unmarried and without children to help them as they get older.
Over the next few months Emmersons Solicitors will be holding free events to inform and offer help. In the meantime if you need help please don’t hesitate to contact me.
What Type of Help?
There are many things that we attend to on behalf of those who are struggling to manage their affairs. If we have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place then we can mange your money. In the first instance I would make sure that your home is insured. Many clients let this lapse without realising. I would check standing orders and direct debits to make sure that you are only paying out money when you need to do so. I regularly find that huge sums of money are being paid out to charities as one charity after another contacts the vulnerable to seek help. That is fine so long as you can afford to make such payments. And if you are paying to charities do you know how many you send money to and how much per month?
You may be struggling to cope with shopping, cleaning, washing and ironing etc. You may feel that you can’t afford help. But if your finances were under control this may free up money so that you could pay someone to assist you. You may be entitled to state benefits such as Attendance Allowance. This can be worth circa £4,000 per year. Again, this money could be used to pay for someone to come in and support you even a couple of times a week. And it doesn’t have to be fifteen minutes here and there. There are many private agencies, who are often cheaper than social services, who can offer you a minimum of an hour per visit. Did you know that there are agencies who will take you out for the day. Do you fancy a trip to the Northumberland Coast or Durham City. Do you want someone to take you to and from your cricket club, or to watch the football? Do you want someone to make meals for you? The choice is yours.
We can also help to sort out your home. Has it all become a bit too much. Have you started to hoard things so that your home is feeling too cluttered? We have a team that will come in and work with us and you to turn things around. We can arrange for a one off deep clean, the removal of items you no longer need or want and weekly cleaning.
We can also get all of your paperwork under control. This might include finding old savings policies that you have forgotten about. We found one recently for a client that was worth over £40,000! We can organise your bank accounts into one place and bring in a financial advisor to ensure that your money is in the correct place for you.
What If You Need to go Into a Care Home?
his can be a huge decision and there will be a lot to think about. I have looked after the homes of clients for years who have not wanted to sell. It is your decision as to when or if you sell a home that may have been the place of years of happy family memories. I have dealt with council tax and council tax rebates. Water rates, which should not be paid when a house is empty. Gas and electricity, care home fees and spending money. Normal house insurance is not enough when a house is empty for more than thirty days. We deal with specialist insurers in order to protect our clients’ property.
To sum up, we can step in and be you. We do all the work so that you don’t have to worry about everything all of the time. If you feel that you are floundering and want a chat about how we can help then you can either email me at je@emmersons-solicitors. co.uk or ring the office on 0191 2846989 and leave your name and telephone number so that I can return your call. And can I ask, have you noticed a lonely neighbour, have you popped round to see if they are coping? They might have been more in the swing of things before covid but if their day centre closed down or the club they were a member of stopped having meetings then they may have declined quite rapidly in the intervening period. Please look out for your neighbours and friends who live alone or who may be struggling to care for a relative.
