Mental Health Day – Pictons Highlights Important Issues

Today is official Mental Health Day 2016, focusing on the issues surrounding Mental Health and the support available to you should you need it. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been forthright in raising the awareness of mental health issues for young people, yet anyone can be affected at any age.

Pictons, a leading and award winning regional law firm has highlighted the importance of being prepared as any of us could experience mental health issues at any stage in our lives regardless of our age or health situation. As much as accidents or physical diseases can hit us all unexpectedly, even the most robust of high profile people have expressed their problems with mental health issues, including depression and bipolar emotional distress.

Kelly Mercel, a Wills Trust and Probate specialists at Pictons says “ To ensure that you are prepared should the worst happen to you we would advise everyone to ensure that they have a valid Will in place and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s) for property and financial affairs plus health and welfare.

“It’s best to prepare these documents when you have the mental capacity to do so and it is important to have them in place as soon as possible. Many people only think about their Will and LPA’s when it is too late and they have already been diagnosed with a mental health condition or impairment which may lead to them lacking the required capacity to prepare them.

“If it becomes necessary for your family to manage your affairs should you become incapacitated they can make a deputyship application to the court. This process is time consuming, more costly and poses a greater level of responsibility on the family member who wishes to be appointed.

“If someone has lost capacity and they don’t have a Will in place then an application can be made by the family to the court to prepare a statutory Will on their behalf. Again this is a complicated, time consuming and costly process with a strong likelihood that it will not succeed.

“By putting Lasting Powers of Attorneys and your Will in place it provides you with the peace of mind that your affairs will be managed as you would like either during your lifetime should you lose capacity or after you pass away.

The time and expense of putting a Lasting Power of Attorney and a Will in place are a fraction of those that will be incurred in the event that the unexpected happens.”

If you need any help or advice surrounding the above or any Wills Law including, Trusts, Probate, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection or Inheritance Tax Planning please contact Kelly or one our Wills, Trusts and Probate Team on 0800 302 9448 or email info@pictons.co.uk