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Mental Health Law Advice for Elderly Clients

As we get older, mental health and mental capacity issues can become important concerns. Our expert team of solicitors can help with advice and representation on a range of mental health and mental capacity matters.

 

Elderly people are vulnerable to being affected by problems of diminished mental capacity and mental illness. The effects of progressive conditions like Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, as well as sudden onset conditions like strokes can leave sufferers unable to make decisions for themselves, and can also have serious effects on mental health, in some cases leading to hospitalisation.

 

If someone is affected by mental illness or diminished mental capacity, our specialist solicitors are able to offer representation and advice to help them and their families negotiate the complex areas of Mental Health Law and the procedures of the Court of Protection.

 

Detentions of elderly people under the Mental Health Act 1983

In cases where an elderly person is mentally ill and is at risk of causing harm to themselves or others, they may need to be detained under the Mental Health Act for their own safety. In these situations, the advice of a specialist solicitor can be invaluable, both to patients and their families. Our Mental Health Law specialists can offer the following help to elderly clients who have been detained under the Mental Health Act:

 

  • Advising on rights to challenge detention under the Mental Health Act 1983;
  • Representing on appeals against detention, before the Hospital Managers or the Mental Health Review Tribunal;
  • Following up any recommendations made by Hospital Managers or Tribunal Panels;
  • Advising on the law in relation to treatment without consent and making representations;
  • Advising and making representations where appropriate in relation to rights to aftercare.

 

The majority of our Mental Health Law team are accredited by the Law Society to represent people detained under the Mental Health Act at Mental Health Review Tribunals. Our expert team can also advise people who have been detained under the Act, or their families, on their rights.

 

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