Book review

To approach the latest edition of Elderly Client: A Precedent Manual, edited by Denzil Lush and Caroline Bielanska, as simply another drafting resource is to miss the point. It contains a host of useful precedents that are accessible in print, on the accompanying CD and in electronic form.

In its first few days as a desk companion, the manual did not disappoint. It delivered precedents urgently required yet difficult to source - a deed of revocation of one of two joint and severally appointed attorneys under an enduring power of attorney, and an agreement for a multi-generational home-share arrangement.

The precedents themselves are clear and concise. There is no attempt to replicate other extensive specialist publications, for example on will drafting. Instead, this manual concentrates on assembling precedents particularly relevant to the older client: gifting a beneficial interest in a granny annexe, or providing for a spouse who may lack the capacity to manage their own affairs, for example.

However, the book deserves to be read from cover to cover. It is a thoughtful and comprehensive study, using cases and case studies to explore the life challenges faced by the older person and guiding the lawyer in advising and crafting solutions.

It has been substantially reworked to reflect the impact of recent significant judicial decisions on issues of capacity, choice and best interests decision-making. Case law relevant to enduring and lasting powers of attorney (Re Druce) and statutory wills (Re P, Re JC) is summarised in plain English.

Sensitive aspects of financial planning for later life, employing a carer, choosing a care home and planning a funeral are all thoroughly explored. There are sample letters to third parties requesting assessments, advice or opinion or formalising a complaint.

The manual also tackles the Gordian knot of considerations advisers must heed when representing a potentially vulnerable client. Checklists systematically address the assessment of capacity, and the potential for undue influence and elder abuse in relation to gifts, wills, powers of attorney and equity release schemes.

It provides sound practical guidance for the practitioner, for example on creating the right environment for the older client, and on preparing an emergency will kit for that unexpected call to a hospital or care home.

It is worth asking whether LPA and Court of Protection applications forms, and documents issued by the Department for Work and Pensions, which are so easily accessible on the internet, need to be included in the manual. Also, the publishers could consider a loose-leaf service as a workable alternative to a replacement volume every few years.

Relevant cases have continued to tax the courts in the weeks since publication. Indeed, the Court of Protection itself has moved offices and practitioners must not rely on the address given in the manual.

However, the statistics in the opening chapter explain why this is a must-read for any private client lawyer seeking to expand their practice. In 1985, just 1 per cent of the UK population was aged over 85; by 2035, that figure is set to be 5 per cent.

While we develop bespoke services to meet our clients' needs, we must also factor in the projection that by 2021, 940,000 of us will have a form of dementia. This represents a rich seam of challenging work for practitioners and a growing cohort of clients who deserve quality and comprehensive advice and representation.

As legislative and funding challenges squeeze other areas of practice, any lawyer planning to sustain or grow their business by developing an embryonic elder law practice should acquire this manual as one of their basic tools. For the established private client practitioner, it delivers so much more than the sum of its parts.

Sheree Green is a senior associate solicitor at Anthony Collins Solicitors

ISBN: 978 1 84661 520 7  Publisher: Jordans  RRP: £80  Published: July 2013

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