Practice Areas

Care for the Elderly

Advising on the care of the elderly is a hugely sensitive area which requires a detailing understanding of the individual client, their needs and overall circumstances. The Private Client team in MH & C have huge experience in this field and can provide advice and assistance on a comprehensive range of options available, including:

• Power of Attorney - which enables an individual to appoint one or more persons (called an "attorney") to manage their financial, property and other affairs on their behalf. The appointment of the attorney ceases however to have effect if the individual became mentally incapable of looking after their own affairs.
  
• Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) - which enables an individual to appoint one or more persons (called an "attorney") to manage their financial, property and other affairs in the event of their becoming mentally incapable of doing so. The EPA only takes effect when the individual becomes mentally incapable and is, in effect, complimentary to an ordinary power of attorney.
  
• Wardship - in the event that an individual becomes mentally incapable of looking after their own affairs and have not appointed an Attorney on foot of an EPA, it is possible to apply to Court to have one or more persons appointed to manage the financial, property and other affairs of that individual. The person or persons so appointed are known as the 'Committee' of the Ward and operate under the supervision of the High Court.
  
• Advance Healthcare Directives/Living Wills - in an age when life can increasingly be prolonged through advances in medicine, many individuals now wish to set out their wishes for future medical care, in the event that they become mentally incapable of making such decisions. The document setting out such wishes is often informally described as a Living Will and is more formally known as an Advanced Healthcare Directive. While there is no formal legal recognition in Ireland of such documents at present, the directions given can be of great comfort to family members who may be called upon to make medical decisions in the future on behalf of the incapacitated individual.

Our People

• Donagh McGowan
  Head of Department
  
• Nora Larkin
  Partner
• Mary Casey
  Senior Associate