Press Release: Families can avoid ‘Betty Figg’ situation – Wright Hassall

Families can protect themselves from a ‘Betty Figg’ scenario by signing one legal document, a local solicitor has advised.

The story of Coventry’s Betty Figg, 86, hit the national headlines when she was forcibly taken from her daughter’s home in April.

Daughter Rosalind had removed the dementia-sufferer from a care home after she asked to go home. But, two days later, police threatened to use a battering ram to gain access to the house and social workers took her back into care.

The media quickly featured pictures and video footage of Mrs Figg being taken from the house in her wheelchair with a towel thrown over her head.

The ordeal is now over for the family, after Rosalind won a custody battle for her mother - but Claire McGinnity of Wright Hassall solicitors and a member of Solicitors for the Elderly, says families who want to avoid risking a similar situation should look at signing a ‘lasting power of attorney’.

“By giving a personal welfare lasting power of attorney to a family member, social services cannot make care decisions,” Miss McGinnity said.

“Without it, social services can do what they think is in the best interests of a vulnerable person, if they think they lack mental capacity to make a choice.

“They do not have to follow what the family want and are not liable for their decisions.

“The scenes we saw at the Figg’s home are thankfully rare, but many people will want to protect themselves from ever experiencing that type of situation.

“A Lasting Power of Attorney is a fairly simple document to put in place and it’s something that gives a family peace of mind.  My advice would be to see a solicitor and get the document in place for the future.”

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Dan Donovan
Advent Communications
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Coventry CV1 4JA
Tel: 024 7663 3636
http://www.advent-communications.co.uk