Friends or family?

[Billy Casper]

All good advice.

My mum is basically too far gone to listen to advice from anyone though. A couple of months ago my brother had to go and be assessed to see if he is fit for work. We told my dad beforehand to make sure my mum was telling the truth in the meeting and correct her if she didn't. When they got there the room was too small for all three of them to go in, so my dad had to wait outside while she went in as she 'knew the medical names of what was wrong'. Of course she went in and told the person how great and independent he was so she could look like a good mother. My dad owns and runs a bakery and my brother goes in each day. He sits on a chair, eats a cheese toastie, and leaves again twenty minutes later. My mum told them he works two hours a day.

She just doesn't comprehend things or fathom what she has done.

[Eggchaser]

Yeah, see if a charity like Mind have got advisors who can come out to the house regarding financial and legal issues. The really large health related charities usually have something along these lines.

I don't do any vulnerable client work in terms of advising on the client's situation, it's not my specialism (I do trusts, estates, tax planning and wills - you know, scumbag stuff) but I know enough to see when things need to be handed over to my colleagues that do.

I have advised a good deal of parents whose children have some form of special needs on issues that will arise post their deaths and how to ensure their child gets the support needed. Referrals from charities often kick this process off.

In my last firm I did a lot of Personal Injury Trust work, helping set up and run trusts for Court awards for those who wanted it, and often in the case of birth trauma or brain injury related orders, the trust was incorporated into it. The birth trauma ones were always the hardest, often being very large sums of money (in the millions of pounds) but which in no way really compensated for the damage done.