Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth hosted its first Later Life Conference last week at the stunning Institute of Directors building, one of the premier event venues in London, to a room of over 100 wealth managers, lawyers and journalists. The aim of the day was to provide information on the legal aspects of later life planning including tax, estate planning and family law among others.
Head of later life planning and tax, trusts and estates partner Kelly Greig kicked off proceedings with a welcome speech. She was followed by solicitor Nicola Turner and associate Amy Comins’ presentation on moving into care, and the perils that can come with signing a care home contract. Kelly was soon back on stage with her first talk about estate planning for those who lack capacity, and what relatives need to watch out for.
The first guest speaker was Claer Barrett, personal finance editor at the Financial Times, who provided an entertaining yet informative talk on how older generations can pass on their wealth to their children and grandchildren. She was followed by family law partners Sarah Balfour and Katharine Shaw, who delivered an excellent presentation on how to protect assets in later life marriages.
After lunch came our second guest speaker, Tim Farmer, who is a mental capacity expert and author; his talk on ‘the capacity question’ was as thought-provoking as it was entertaining. Kelly then returned with her second presentation of the day which focused on the cross-border elements of later life, such as holiday homes and other assets abroad, and what families need to know when it comes to estate planning and foreign countries.
The final part of the conference included a very useful presentation by will, trust and estate disputes associate Margaret Windram explaining not only how financial abuse can happen to the elderly, but just how common and devastating the problem is. Rounding off the day were solicitors Nicola Hawkins and Nicola Turner providing Dementia Friends training for attendees, making a further 21 Friends for the Alzheimer’s Society initiative.
So far there has been some very good feedback from those who attended and the day provided some informative discussions on an area of the law that is sadly little understood. We hope everyone who attended enjoyed the day – if you’re interested in learning more about how we can help, please take a look at our newly launched later life planning pages.
Published: April 2019
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