Sources of further help My Care My Home During 2014, East Sussex Adult Social Care is working in partnership with an independent organisation called My Care My Home. My Care My Home offers a comprehensive range of services including assessment, advice on a range of ways to meet your care and support needs, and can signpost you to independent financial or legal advice if you require
it. Some of its services are free and some incur a charge. You can speak with an adviser over the phone or request a face-to-face visit. Tel: 0800 731 8470 Web: www.mycaremyhome.co.uk
This Directory’s helpline This Directory’s free helpline provides an independent information and help service encompassing care and accommodation. A personalised report can be generated for you providing details of all home care, care homes or housing with care schemes that meet your criteria with supplementary information about choosing and funding care. One call to the freephone number 0800 389 2077 will enable the service to build a profile of exactly what type of care you’re looking for, while taking into account your personal needs and interests. The website: www.carechoices.co.uk allows you
to search by postcode or region for care homes, care homes with nursing, home care, supported living (learning disability only) and housing with care providers that meet your requirements across the country. Your search can then be saved and emailed to others. You can also view an electronic version of this Directory on the site and have it read to you by using the ‘Browsealoud’ function. Whatever your care needs, this Directory, the Care Choices helpline and website will be able to point you in the best direction, however you would like care information presented.
How solicitors can help you Our care and legal system is a complex one, so it is vital to get some advice to avoid any complications in the future. A solicitor can offer impartial advice about making a will, making gifts, estate planning and powers of attorney. A specialist solicitor can offer further advice, including guidance on immediate and long-term care, ensuring (if applicable) that the NHS has made the correct contribution to your fees, and support on some of the more complex issues you may face later on, some of which are noted below. Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) allow you to appoint someone you trust to manage your property and financial affairs on your behalf, in the event you lose mental or physical capacity. Once you have lost or are losing capacity your attorney must register the EPA with the Courts to remain valid. Since 2007 EPAs were replaced by Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA). This allows you to appoint someone you trust to also make decisions about your personal welfare, including healthcare and consent to medical treatment, as well as your property and financial affairs. Unlike an EPA, a LPA will only become effective once registered (regardless of whether you have lost capacity)
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incurring unavoidable Court fees. An EPA executed prior to October 2007 remains valid. The Court of Protection can issue Orders directing the management of a person’s property and financial affairs if they are becoming, or have become, incapable of managing their own affairs should they not have an EPA. The Court procedure is presently very slow and the fees are quite expensive so preparing an EPA is always advisable, providing you have somebody sufficiently trustworthy to appoint as your attorney. A Living Will is an advance directive allowing you to communicate your wishes in respect of future medical treatment but it is not legally binding. Long-term care can be given, whether you remain in your own home or move into sheltered or residential care, and you may qualify for financial assistance, such as welfare benefits, social care funding and NHS-funded care. Any proposed gift out of your estate needs careful consideration of the benefits, risks and implications on any future liability for care costs. Ask family and friends for their recommendations if you don’t have your own solicitor. It is important to gather as
This Directory’s helpline 0800 389 2077 – information on choosing and paying for care