Protection & Planning for the Vulnerable

As people live longer and the population ages, more families are having to cope with the legal, practical and emotional challenges that come with diminished mental capacity.

Whether due to dementia, brain injury, learning disabilities, mental health conditions or age-related decline, the risks facing vulnerable individuals and those supporting them are greater than ever. The need for thoughtful, proactive planning has never been more critical.

We help individuals and families plan for and respond to issues of mental capacity with practical insight, compassion and foresight. Whether you are concerned about your own ability to manage your affairs, supporting a loved one or acting as an attorney or deputy, we provide practical, sensitive advice based on your individual needs.

Our Vulnerable Client team advises on how to provide for and protect the interests of individuals who may lack mental capacity to manage their affairs and make decisions for themselves.

Services

• Planning for incapacity, including preparing Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs), advance decisions and structuring long-term financial arrangements to ensure your wishes are respected.
• Court of Protection applications (often in complex or contested cases), including acting in applications for the appointment of deputies, statutory wills, lifetime gifts and trustee appointments.
• Safeguarding vulnerable individuals, including advising on suspected financial abuse, disputes involving attorneys or deputies, and applications to the Court of Protection or the Office of the Public Guardian for intervention or removal.
• Trusts for vulnerable beneficiaries, including structuring and administering trusts to protect the interests of individuals who may lack capacity, ensuring their needs are met without compromising entitlement to benefits or exposing them to risk.
• Cross-border capacity issues, including supporting international families where capacity, guardianship or estate planning issues span multiple jurisdictions.

How we can help

We support individuals and families at every stage of planning for or responding to issues of mental capacity. Whether you’re coming to terms with a new diagnosis, managing day-to-day responsibilities or thinking about the future, we are here to help you make informed, confident decisions.

Recent experience

• Supporting a UK/US couple through estate planning amid mental incapacity, coordinating advice across jurisdictions and managing complex trust structures.
• Advising the unborn and current beneficiaries in a trust application where a child born via surrogacy in the US was excluded from the trust due to outdated definitions.
• Providing advice where a daughter and her elderly mother were both found to lack capacity. Advising on safeguarding options, including Court of Protection involvement and managing the risks of revoking a Lasting Power of Attorney without disrupting care.
• Acting for the granddaughter of a Court of Protection patient who challenged a statutory will. We represented her in a sensitive dispute involving testamentary capacity and undue influence, balancing the interests of the protected party against those of other family members.
• Advising a non-UK resident acting as attorney for a mentally incapacitated parent, who sought advice on removing a co-attorney suspected of financial abuse.
• Acting for a grandson who challenged a will made by his grandmother, who had dementia and was isolated. The will, drafted remotely, significantly altered previous testamentary intentions.